


Betwixt

by Mayclore



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-26 02:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 154,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1671125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayclore/pseuds/Mayclore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A terrible past. An uncertain future. Gravity Falls is where two worlds will collide, in a figurative and literal sense. It falls to Dipper, Mabel and friends to wrangle with the new normal - with help from a new pair of mystery twins. Beta read by Obvious Ghost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. There's a Goat, Too

Mabel had taken it upon herself to head into town to buy some more knitting supplies, and despite the awful, stuffy air was enjoying the trip. The official town section of Gravity Falls was bustling with people doing one thing or another. Despite the decidedly not-sweater weather, she gave everyone – literally _everyone –_ some sort of smile or wave or two-minute diatribe about how lovely their shoes or hair or pants or something looked. This drew her journey out quite a bit; by the time she'd actually gotten to the store and come out, her morning jaunt was becoming an afternoon one.

And she needed a break. Fortunately there were a few benches nearby, so she picked an empty one and plopped down on it to catch her breath. "Phew. It's hotter than a..." It was so hot her brain couldn't formulate an analogy. "...really hot thing. Wow. Nice job, me." She fanned herself with a hand and watched the people travel by.

Not all of them walked past, however. Someone tall and dressed even more warmly came to a halt and sat on the other end of the bench. It was impossible to tell much about them; the hood of their gray hoodie was up, and they had on baggy jeans that further concealed their form. This, of course, didn't stop Mabel from being friendly.

"Hi! Dude and/or dudette, you gotta be roasting," she greeted brightly.

Whoever it was didn't look over, but they did reply. "It's not too bad." Female voice. Very even and measured. Sort of gravely, too.

"Girrrrrrrrl please. I feel like some roasted French food I can't even say and I'm not wearing pants! What's the dealio? Why you in there?"

"I... feel a bit out of place, honestly."

"What?" That triggered a serious eye bulge. "Why for?"

"I'm..." Pregnant pause. "...new."

Mabel sucked in a gallon of air with her gasp. "Oh my gosh. Did you just move in?! You need a tour guide! I volunteer!"

Totally caught off guard, all the stranger could do now was look over and stammer "Wh-what?" Her face was somewhat visible, but detail was hard to make out.

"Seriously! You need a buddy? I gotcha back. My bro-bro and I know this town like the back of our hands."

"But I don't even know your name."

"Mabel!" She reached out a hand, expecting a shake, and after a few seconds got one. "Dang, you got some grip."

"So I've been told." The stranger turned away and looked down the street. "The air feels strange."

She also looked that way. "Oh yeah, it's the lake. Humidity and something or whatever. All I know is I have to use like a bottle of conditioner every night to stop the frizz from harshing my do."

The stranger's shoulders dipped a bit. "Your... right. Mabel? That's an interesting name."

She had to talk through a persistent giggle. "Yeah! That's my mom's middle name. Aunt Maud says she gave it to me like my dad gave his middle name to my bro."

Abruptly, the stranger perked up. "Maud? I know a Maud."

"Neato! See, we already got something in common." Mabel wasn't going to let the tenuous nature of the connection stop her. "So like, where ya from?"

There was some hesitance in her reply. "Oh, far away."

She tilted her head. "Like where? Iowa? Iowa is pretty far. And full of corn. So I hear, anyway."

"I... yes. Iowa."

"Huh. I always thought people from Iowa had weird accents." Her finger traced a happy path on her skirt. "I think I'm thinking of Wisconsin? Aw, I'm no good at geography. Dipper's the smart one. He's my bro. You got any bros?"

"No, but I have a sister." The stranger finally dropped her hood. She had a head of the blackest hair Mabel had ever seen, styled short and slicked against her head, with eyes of an equally intense blue. A frown came and went as she watched the passersby. "She's going to be coming soon, but I came first to make sure everything was ready."

"Ooo, no wonder you look mopey. I don't like it when I get separated from Dipper. Know exactly how you're feelin' up there." This was emphasized with a pat on the shoulder – which Mabel had to raise up somewhat to deliver. "Soooooo, what's _your_ name?"

The stranger tilted her head. "My name is..." Again, she hesitated slightly. "Winnie."

Mabel's face went blank, though it still bore a smile. "The Pooh?" Silence. "Pff, I'm kiddin'. Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise." At last, she smiled too. "You remind me of a friend back home."

"Oh?" For a moment, Mabel fussed with her rainbow-colored sweater. "I've never heard _that_ before. Dipstick always calls me 'hopelessly unique'."

"You could say the same about my friend." Winnie tilted her gaze up at the cloudy sky. "It is rather humid here, isn't it?"

"Heck yeah. How is your hair staying so flat? I'm super jelly." She squinted at the tall girl's slicked-down locks. "Hair gel?"

"Oh, yes. I like to keep it completely out of my eyes." A few moments quietly passed by before Mabel tugged at her sleeve. "Hmm?"

"Listen." A serious expression was on her face – not that it made her look any less cheerful. "You're gonna hear some weird stuff about this town. I'm talking gnome-level weirdness. If anything happens to you that you're just like 'nobody's gonna believe this', talk to me and my brother. We'll believe you."

Winnie's face dropped with confusion. "If you say so?"

"Seriously!" There was a bus approaching from down the street which Mabel pointed out. "That'll take you to a place called the Mystery Shack. If something dumb happens, just drop by." They watched it come to a halt at a bus stop. "Wait. I'm supposed to be on that. Frack! Hey! Wait!" She snatched her shopping bag off the sidewalk and started running. "Sorry gotta go nice to meet you again bye oh balls hey mister bus driver waaaaaait!"

"Hmm." Winnie blinked and watched her until she got on the bus. After it turned onto a side street and disappeared, she rose and patted at her hair. "I don't think the humidity is why the air feels strange," she muttered lowly.

* * *

Dipper found himself humming a little tune as he swept the shop. He was the only person in the building; Wendy hadn't arrived yet for some reason, and Stan and Soos were outside doing something to or around or near the bottomless pit. He really hadn't paid any attention to their conversation.

Just as he was about to get to the register, the door flew open with Mabel behind it. She let out a high-pitched "Dipper!" at maximum volume, which made him shriek, throw the broom, and fall over in a terrified heap. "Oh, there you are."

It took him some time to pull himself up. "M-Mabel! How did you know I was even in here?!"

"I didn't. I just like screaming stuff when I walk in to places sometimes. Make an entrance." She watched him adjust his vest. "Where's everybody at?"

"I have no idea where Wendy is. Grunkle Stan and Soos are outside doing... something. We probably don't want to know." After clearing his throat, he took the broom and went back to work. "Where have _you_ been? It never takes you four hours to buy knitting supplies."

Giggling, Mabel held up her bag. "Bro, I had to meet a budget. Besides, I made a new friend!"

He hid his eyes and groaned. "Oh boy."

"Ah, relax. She's new here and I volunteered to be her guide." Except she hadn't done any guiding. At all. Her face screwed up. "Oops. I forgot to show her around. Oh well. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Good job. I bet she's wandering around lost as we speak." Dipper cackled at her mean look. "What's her story?"

"I dunno, she's kinda shy. Her name is Winnie, she's from Iowa, she's got a sister, aaaaaand that's about all I got." Suddenly her eyes lit up. "Hey, you sound like her! All thoughtful and junk. I bet you'd be buddies."

"Huh. That's nice." The sweeping stopped. He delivered a pointed look. "Are you trying to set me up with her?"

She slammed her hands onto her hips and glared right back. "Whaaaaat? No! Come on, man, I met her like twenty minutes ago. Geez."

Dipper folded his arms. "You realize there is precedence for this sort of thing. Kindergarten. First grade. Et cetera."

His stern demeanor did nothing to diminish her grin. "I don't know what that big ol' p-word means. And it doesn't matter, 'cause _no_ , I'm not setting you guys up. That would be a low blow to Wendy, man. A low blow." Now he was blushing. "Ha! Tomato face!"

"Why I oughta..." He feigned anger as she skipped away with her shopping bag and into the living room. She returned a few minutes later and hopped up onto the stool behind the counter. "I'm a little surprised you've only made three friends so far. Usually you're everybody's friend."

"I know, right? I blame the weird. And Gideon. Man." She propped her chin in her hands and sighed. "I'm so glad he's in the slammer."

"That makes about three thousand of us."

Before she could add anything, a series of noises from outside drew their attention. "What was that?"

Dipper listened for a moment. "I don't hear anyone screaming. Probably fine."

She nodded. "Yep. I don't wanna go out there, yo. Soooo hot."

"Yeah. Honestly, I didn't think it could get this hot in Oregon. We're almost next to Canada!" They shared a laugh. Just as he went back to sweeping, Wendy opened the door. "There you are. Sleep in?"

"I wish," she groaned, pawing at her furry hat. The redhead was bleary-eyed and sluggish. "I've been up since six o'clock 'cause my dad was... man, I don't even wanna talk about it."

"No, no, tell us!" Mabel encouraged. "We love stories. Dipper especially seems to love ones with you in them."

He chuckled nervously. "Yeah sure ahem... what happened?"

Wendy took the stool and got comfortable. "Dad gets his hacksaw stuck in a Douglas fir. So he punches the tree, right? Well, the tree falls across the highway so my brothers and I gotta help him clear it. Except he gets the saw stuck again so he hauls off and slugs _another tree_ and that one falls in the road too. I gotta get him to take some anger management classes." She smiled and rolled her eyes as the twins giggled. "So, there you go. I spent five hours makin' sure the highway was tree-free."

"Poor Wendy," Mabel said, though she was still grinning. "The life of a lumberjack!"

She nodded and brushed some hair out of her face. "Yep. I miss anything around here besides Mr. Pines building a trampoline over that hole in the ground?"

"Is that what he's doing?" Dipper looked out a nearby window. "I swear, sometimes he's _trying_ to get sued."

"Maybe he's just in the part of his old man-dom where he's starting to hate everybody." A beat passed before Mabel's eyes lit up. "Ooo! I made a new friend!" She waved her hands around. "Her name's Winnie. She just moved here."

The redhead thought for a second. "Oh yeah, that must be the chick that moved into Pacifica's neighborhood. She hasn't been here long enough for gossip to start though, heh."

Dipper blinked as his sister's face got droopy. "What's up?"

"Aw man, all the rich people in Gravity Falls are total jerkfaces." She crossed her arms and got dramatically pouty. "Pacifica's a jerkface, Gideon was a _turbo_ jerkface... and his dad is just... ew." But in a moment more her smile returned. "Then again, Winnie didn't seem like a jerkface at all. Maybe the third time's a charm."

Her brother added with a smirk, "Yeah, if the town doesn't drive her insane first."

"That would _never_ happen." Wendy cackled for just a moment before her face dropped. "Unless she runs into ghosts too. Man. Ghosts."

"Not to worry! I told her to drop by if she had any issues." Mabel titled her head at Dipper's surprised look. "What?"

"This place is insanity central. All she'd get is Stan harassing her to buy a keychain or a bobblehead. Or she'll end up on a tour. That's really going to give her a good impression."

"Why wouldn't it? We got a Sascrotch! Hee." She frowned when neither of them cracked a smile. "Y'all so dreary today. Here, look at my sweater. Absorb its happiness!"

Dipper declined, covering his face with the brim of his hat. "I can't, it makes my eyes burn."

"Uh... same, actually," Wendy added, glancing about to avoid the rainbow brilliance of Mabel's outfit. "You are _extra_ colorful today."

Mabel folded her arms again, this time with a huff. "Geez. You beam one rainbow into someone's eyes and all of a sudden colors are bad."

Dipper peered at her. "You blinded that someone for four days and he still says his brain is yellow."

"So what? Color needed to happen and color happened. I stand by my actions." Before an argument could get going, a loud bang and shouting from outside made everyone look toward the door. "Uh oh. I think Soos did a Soos thing."

"Yep." Dipper set the broom aside with a sigh. "I guess we'd better go see what's up."

* * *

Winnie found herself in the small electronics store downtown, eying some of the smartphones on sale. As she walked between displays, she slipped her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. One phone caught her attention – black and gleaming with a huge screen, it stood out amongst the smaller examples like the biggest jewel in a technological crown. She blinked at it. Unfortunately, there was a rather large number on the price tag. "Oh dear." Seeing no way around it, she checked her surroundings, frowned, and walked out. On the sidewalk, she exposed her left hand and looked at a phone which was now in her grasp – the phone she'd been looking at before. "I guess it worked." After waiting a bit to see if anyone had suspicions, she headed down the sidewalk and towards the hill where the who's who of Gravity Falls made their homes.

It was something of a climb, but no problem for Winnie. About twenty minutes of walking brought her to what could only be described as the most modest out of a small clump of mansions. This was a single-floor structure clad in brick with a slate shingle roof and wide windows out front. The lawn was carefully manicured, as were all the lawns on this street. She only cracked a smile when glancing at the rose bushes that bracketed the front porch. After sucking in another breath of muggy air, she entered.

The interior was completely empty. Every step on the hardwood caused a scuffing noise from her sandals that bounced for ages through the house. "This is too much," she grumbled to herself. "If only there had been another empty house to use."

Knocking quieted her. She looked through the semi-circular window in the front door and saw a familiar face – her own. It opened after the caller noticed she had been seen. "Sister!" she said, darting over and clamping onto Winnie in a hug.

"That is very bright," she noted, cocking a brow at the red dress.

"What? It's my favorite color." Her eyes, sparkling orbs of ruby, were just as colorful. "...Winnie. Ha."

The tone made her squint. "Sue. I feel like I'm on a leash again."

Sue patted at her bangs and issued a light shrug. "But at least you have company this time."

"Hmm. Yes." Winnie shed her hoodie and pulled at the straps on the black tank top underneath it. Besides their eyes and hair style, the twins were identical in every way – including their builds. Somewhat broad-shouldered and very athletic, they struck imposing figures. "Did you feel the air? What _is_ this place?"

"Yes." Sue crossed her arms in thought. "It's like breathing flesh." She cut her eyes up. "Don't we need furniture? If people want to come over..."

Her idea was dismissed with a frown. "Nobody wants to come here. The neighborhood is too intimidating." Ah, but that might not be true, she realized. "Hmm. Unless the girl I met shows up."

Smiling, Sue took her by the hands. "Oh? Did you make a friend?"

Winnie nodded a little. "Perhaps. Her name is Mabel. She felt it important enough to warn me about the 'weirdness' of Gravity Falls."

"Huh. I wonder if it's related to the..." There wasn't a fully accurate word for the sensation, and so she fell silent for a time. "... air thing. We're still going to need furniture."

"You certainly enjoy decorating, don't you?"

She clasped her hands and grinned widely. "It's a hobby, and I rather like it. You could use one." They smiled at each other before she added, "What is that rhyme about all work and no play?"

"As if either of us have to work for anything." Winnie detached herself and stepped away. "Although figuring out whatever is going on with the atmosphere could be a nice way to pass the time."

"Oh, sister, that's not what I meant by a hobby." Sue folded her arms and tried to look cross, but couldn't manage it. For a while, they were quiet, walking through the house to get their bearings. She looked over to one of the empty walls; except it wasn't empty now. A large painting of a stream running through a forest was hanging there. "First, some art. How does this look?"

"Nice enough." Winnie stood by her and examined the frame. "We have to play this carefully, you know." Her eyes narrowed when Sue didn't respond. "I'm serious. We could break things here. Lots of things. The people here... they are not ready for us."

She heaved a dreary sigh and looked over. "You don't have to tell me that. _Nobody_ is ready for us."

By the next morning, Winnie and Sue had a completely furnished home. Nothing was too ostentatious about the decor, but everything matched the general majesty of the house. Sue was on the front porch with a mug in her hand, watching the sun rise over Gravity Falls. It wasn't long before her sister joined her. "Nice view," she greeted, indicating the vista with her mug. "Reminds me of a few places." Her brow furrowed. "Places I wish had better memories attached to them."

"I know what you mean. Trees everywhere." A ghostly frown came and went as Winnie glanced at her twin's cup. "Coffee?"

"No, just water." She took a swig. "We know nothing about this place. I feel lost."

"I know someone who does."

Sue's head tilted in confusion briefly. "Oh, yes. Your new friend." Winnie didn't add anything else. "Are we taking a trip already?"

"As soon as the sun is a little higher. There's a bus we need to catch and I imagine it's a little early for that."

"Exciting. I haven't gotten to see anything yet." Sue drained her cup and dried off her lips. "Mabel, right? What's she like?"

"Young. Very..." Winnie rolled her eyes about in search of a good term. "Energetic. Fast talker."

"Sounds familiar." They shared a smirk. "Where are we going?"

"A place called the Mystery Shack. All I know is the name."

To kill time, they walked down the hill and into Gravity Falls to watch the town wake up and get an idea of where everything was. The sights included the floating winged dollar sign over the Gleeful car dealership – something that Sue couldn't stop giggling at – as well as the graffiti on the water tower, the lake, and all the little shops downtown that Winnie pointed out for her sister. By the time the sun was fully up, they ended their tour at the bus stop Mabel had run to the day before. They sat on the bench and waited.

"It's cute," Sue decided. "Not much different from home, really." Her lips pursed at a thought. "Besides the sky being so empty."

"Yes." Winnie crossed her legs and stared at the clouds. As time passed, a little crowd gathered around them, apparently all waiting for the same bus. "Hmm. Popular place."

She nodded a little and examined the gathering. "I noticed."

The bus arrived about ten minutes later. Everyone piled on. The twins chose a seat near the back and remained silent during the trip into the woods. Once they actually _saw_ the Mystery Shack, however, Sue couldn't help but speak. "It looks like someone glued this place together," she muttered.

"That would be an insult to glue." Winnie's eyes were narrowed. "Feel it? The air is even worse here."

Only after the rest of the group got out did they emerge. Sue blinked at the fallen 'S' on the grass, while Winnie was more interested in the totem pole off to the side near the trees. The rather dilapidated nature of the building made both women scowl. "Are you sure someone lives here? This looks like a museum. A _bad_ museum," Sue asked.

"This is where she said to go..."

Quiet arrived as someone came out of the house. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he proclaimed, steadying the red fez on his head. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack! You can call me Mister Mystery, or Stan... actually to be honest you could call me Shirley if you were gonna make it worth my while..." The last part of that was mumbled and fast, but the twins still heard it. "Anyway, if you'll follow me right through this door we can get the tour started!"

The group began to move after him, but the twins had no intention of going along. After feigning compliance until the group was gone, Winnie sniffed the air. "Overpowering. We need to find what's doing this."

Sue tugged at her red sandal wedges and looked for things to investigate. "Right. Should we split up?"

"No, let's stick together." They moved toward the side of the house with the totem. "What's this?"

"Looks like a big wooden stick." Sue tapped on it with a fingernail. "...now I have a splinter." Grumbling, she yanked it out from under her nail. "Hmph."

Winnie shook her head at the display and looked off. "I see a hole in the ground." Upon getting there, they found scattered metal tubes and a wooden sign. "Bottomless pit?" She peered down into the abyss. Almost immediately, an overpowering sensation struck. "That is _definitely_ a thing."

"It sure is," her sister agreed, waving away the air out of instinct even though the sensation wasn't really a smell. "Should we jump down?"

"Uh, excuse me?" an uncertain voice interrupted. They turned to see a young boy in a hat and blue vest and grayish shorts, amongst other things. "Are you here with the tour? They kinda went that way." He thumbed over his shoulder.

Winnie approached him first. "Actually, we're looking for Mabel. My name is Winnie."

"Oh, so you're the new... arrivals. Plural." He tilted his head at Sue. "Identical twins, huh? She is gonna blow a freakin' gasket."

Sue was curious. "Why?"

"Because-"

He didn't get a chance to finish since Mabel burst out of the side door behind him. "Diiiiiiiiiiipper! What the frackety fricky frack did you do with my hairband, man?! I put it on the... table...?" Her voice failed completely upon seeing Winnie, only to return as a thrilled, gurgling shriek when she noticed Sue. "Oh. My. Gosh. You guys are twins too! Natural clones, even!"

"Here it comes," Dipper sighed, not even trying to stop her as she darted off the porch.

"Eeeeeeee this is awesome!" she shrieked, running quick circles around the two women. "Why didn't you tell me you were twins?! We coulda had a huge twin party!"

"Wow, she _is_ energetic," Sue said with a tiny grin.

"Mm. We just thought we'd stop by and say hello." Winnie gently stopped her with both hands the next time she ran by. "Don't get dizzy."

"Pff, dizzy? I'd never get di-dizzy." The hitch in her voice – and some random eye wobbling – said otherwise. "Okay, uh, the sky needs to stop being the ground. That's not cool."

"Oh boy." Dipper guided her away as she started to retch. "She'll be fine. Welcome to the Mystery Shack! Believe it or not, we live here. I think we might be the only people Grunkle Stan doesn't try to charge an entry fee."

Sue blinked. "What's a Grunkle?"

"Grunkle's a portly manatee of Great and Uncle!" Mabel explained, her cheeks bulging as the last words got out. "Oh snap, I'm gonna hurl..."

Were he not busy trying to stop her from doing just that, Dipper would have facepalmed hard. "She means portmanteau. Sorry. She ate half a bag of Cookie Chips for breakfast and I am genuinely concerned her heart is going to implode."

"Sugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar," she droned in confirmation.

While they fussed with each other, the identical twins shared a dark expression. "Well, I wasn't expecting this," Winnie muttered, trying to avoid attention. The sting of the feeling that flowed from the bottomless pit still rattled around in their skulls.

The red-eyed woman nodded, then stared at a goat that appeared from around the back of the house. "I don't know _what_ I was expecting, but I can't disagree with you."


	2. Fuerza

Dipper and Mabel lead them into the shop, where Wendy sat behind the counter idly reading a magazine. The redhead glanced up and blinked. "Whoa. Sure is twins in here."

"I know! Isn't it great?" Mabel, as usual, made no attempt at all to hide her enthusiasm. "We're best friends now." She slammed her hand over Dipper's mouth when he opened it to protest. "Shhhh, bro. This is happening. It's happening."

He thwacked her hand away. "Of course it is."

"Who's this?" Sue asked, indicating the redhead.

"What's up? I'm Wendy. I work... uh, I'm employed by Mister Pines." She chuckled a little at her correction. "You're the new girls, right?" Something told her this wasn't the right word – they looked older than the redhead, although that might have been a function of their intimidating stature. They were certainly taller by an inch or two. Maybe more.

Winnie nodded while looking around the shop. "Mm, that would be us."

"Cool. Welcome." She doffed her hat for a moment to scratch. "Let me be the first to assure you that this place is about as strange as it gets in Gravity Falls. At least I'm pretty sure." A beat passed. "Actually, uh, there's an abandoned store in town called the Dusk 2 Dawn. My advice is to like, never go there. Seriously." A shudder took her. "Geez. I still have nightmares."

Sue gave her an inappropriately bright smile. "We'll keep that in mind."

The grin was returned – although awkwardly – as Wendy went back to her reading. "Heh. Nice colored contacts, by the way. Makes you look like a demon."

"Huh? Oh." She pulled at her cheeks to make her eyes look wider. "It's the only way people can tell us apart besides our hairstyles. And my voice."

"Sue was always the optimistic one. You can literally hear it." Winnie had been wandering through the shop as her sister chatted, examining items at random. "I seem to have found a jar of eyeballs." There was an uncomfortable look in her eyes.

Mabel darted over to her, but didn't notice the expression. "Ooo, I love those! Waddles fetches them for me! Most of the time."

"And by fetch she means he eats them," Dipper added. "Waddles is her pet pig, by the way."

This information caused Sue to cock an eyebrow. "There's a goat  _and_  a pig?"

He nodded. "Yep. Who knows how long he's been hanging around, but he eats  _anything_. Between him and Waddles I'm surprised there's a Mystery Shack at all."

Mabel was looking displeased. "That sweater-eating little creep. I should train Waddles to fight him. Hiyaaaaaa!" she yelled, karate chopping the air. "Attack Pig!"

Sue chuckled at her antics. Winnie's reaction was limited to a smile. "Is this place actually a museum?" the blue-eyed twin asked. "I can't figure out where you would fit one now that I'm inside."

"Museum is way too much of an overstatement." Dipper waved them all toward a door with an 'Employees Only' sign. "Come on, we can talk in here. If Stan sees you guys in the gift shop he won't stop until you buy something." Through this portal was the living room. The three ladies sat at the round table. "You two want a soda? We've got about seven cases worth of Pitt."

"Yes!" Winnie said, for once sounding as enthusiastic as her sister. Her brow furrowed when Sue giggled. "Yes."

"Aw. You guys are adorable together. As is right and proper for twins." Mabel looked between them. "So, whatcha think about the town, huh? Is it as... I dunno, whatever Iowa is. Flat? Tornado-y?" Winnie's eyes narrowed at the last word. "Whoa. Uh. I guess that was a nerve I just stepped on."

Sue decided to speak for them both, and in the process change the subject. "It's a lot like home. More trees. More cliffs. We didn't have a lake with a waterfall, though."

"Good! I'm sorry I didn't really do any guiding for you yesterday. If I hadn't caught that bus I was seriously going to die to death in the heat trying to walk home. You understand." She flashed a metallic smile at their nods. "Cool. If you want, we can do the tour thing now! Of Gravity Falls, I mean."

"We sort of walked around this morning to find things," Winnie replied.

Crestfallen, Mabel crossed her arms and pouted. "Aw, man. Well, Dippingsauce and I could show you the  _other_  stuff!"

The identical twins glanced at each other again. "What other stuff?" Sue asked.

"Oh man, there's too much to name. Like the dinosaurs in the old mine. There's tons! Like a Puh-terodactyl that tried to kill us, a tyrannosauruseses, a..." She paused to yell into the kitchen. "Hey, Dipper! Hurry up with the soda! I need you in here to say big words for me!"

"Just a second!" He returned at last with four cans of Pitt. "Sorry, I had to open a new case." He made sure Winnie and Sue got the cold ones. "Here you go."

They both took a drink and had only one thing to say: "Peachy."

Mabel couldn't help but snicker. "Pff. You guys are the cutest."

"Nobody has ever called me cute before," Winnie noted between swallows. "What other things happen around here? Besides the dinosaurs, I mean."

"Wow." Dipper looked at the ceiling and tried to gather his thoughts. "Well, there's a lot of weird stuff in the lake. An island tried to eat us."

Mabel groaned at the memory. "Yeah, that wasn't very fun."

"Uh huh. And the pit you guys were looking at? One hundred percent bottomless." The twins' blank stares made him think they thought he'd gone off the deep end. "I swear! We've fallen in it. We've personally tested its bottomless-ness."

Mabel snorted lightly. "Grunkle Stan tested it twice!"

Sue was having a hard time with the concept. "But how can a hole have no bottom?"

"It's Gravity Falls, man! This place is the weirdest. Kinda numbs you after a while because you're like 'oh well the local psychic just built a huge robot to destroy us' and then you're like 'which is only the 57th most whacko thing that's happened to me this month'! I ain't even kidding, man. The place is a weird sandwich with strange chips and a what-the-heck soda." To punctuate this, she took a drink from her actual soda. "For real."

Dipper suddenly looked cross. "We could show you more, but Grunkle Stan's got my journal."

This drew their interest, Winnie's especially. "You wrote all this down?"

He shook his head. "Not me. Somebody wrote at least three journals detailing all the insanity that happens around here. Whether or not the first one still exists I don't know, but I had number three and our mortal enemy had number two before he got sent to prison. No idea where that one went either. They're full of notes and diagrams about stuff you can't even imagine."

Again the twins shared a look. "We'd very much like to read these," Sue stated. "What did your... um, Grunkle... do with number three?"

"No idea. I ask for it back and he tries to whack me with his cane."

"Which, by the way, is absolutely as hilarious as it sounds." Mabel ignored his unhappy expression and kept drinking. "You guys interested in this stuff? Most people don't seem to notice it. Honestly I think they're too dumb." Her eyes dropped to the table. "That's mean of me to say. But dang. They are  _dumb_."

Winnie crossed her arms and glared off into space. "We've been through too much to be closed-minded."

Now it was the Pines who were exchanging uncertain glances. "Uh, do you guys need a hug?" Mabel asked.

"No, I'm fine." The blue-eyed twin didn't really look fine, but her tone was a distinct shade of 'back off, please'. "I find this hard to believe. Why hasn't anyone else noticed all these things?"

Mabel sighed and played with her hairband. "Dude, I told you. People here are box-of-rocks dumb. I mean d-to-the-u-m-b  _dumb_. It's like there's some sort of brain-suppressing stupidity field or something."

Dipper hopped into the old yellow recliner and nodded. "No joke. You guys say you're not closed-minded? Well almost everybody here is. Especially Grunkle Stan. I guess he's gotten so jaded he doesn't believe anything anymore. And he freaking  _fought_  the dinosaurs! How can he keep blowing this stuff off?!"

Sue slouched back in her chair, then exhaled long and low. "If we can't talk to anyone... maybe we should look around for ourselves?"

"I feel like I should warn you that most of the stuff we've run into has either kidnapped us or tried to kill us."

The twins looked over at him and blinked. "Oh?" Winnie rubbed her chin and looked contemplative. "We'll be careful. Just point us in the right direction."

"Whoa whoa whoa. We're not going to send you to your deaths! Who do you think we are,  _Gideon_?" Mabel's face went blank when she saw her comparison fail. "Oops. Forgot you don't know who he is."

Her brother rolled his eyes. "If only we were so lucky. All you need to know is he's in jail and far away."

She thought for a moment and shrugged. "I'm fine with this. Still, though, it'd be kinda bad if we told you to check something out and then you got murdered in the face."

"We will certainly do our best to avoid being murdered anywhere," Sue assured her cheerfully. "But we're really... curious about this place. It seems so odd."

Winnie's face indicated she was feeling grumpy. "Odd is a nice way of putting it."

"Hrm. I mean, you guys look like you could bench press a Buick and all..." Mabel made a few 'hrmph' noises as she considered her next words. "Ah, why not. I'm sure you guys could get away from anything bad."

"Seriously, please don't get killed," Dipper added. "Hey, Mabel, what's the  _safest_  thing we could send them to check out? Like a Gravity Falls beginner course."

"Uh... good question." She hopped out of her chair and began to walk around. "Not the gnomes, probably. Island lake monster head thing is a no-go. And I never want to see those stupid crystal things again."

Sue raised her hand. "I want to see the dinosaurs."

Mabel turned to look. "I don't think you can get in there anymore. There was this really old church over the entrance and when we escaped it kinda exploded like kapow!" She added some more explosive sound effects for several seconds afterward.

"And also it's insanely dangerous," Dipper advised. "I'm glad that hole is sealed over."

The red-eyed twin kept prodding. "Where's the hole?"

"In the woods." He drew back in the face of Winnie's icy stare. "What? There's a dirt road in the woods that leads to the church. That's all I've got. And that's all I'm going to give you because you'd be nuts to try and get into the mines."

Mabel blinked a few times. "Wait, we went into the mines. What does that make us?"

He didn't really have a good answer. "Uh... heroic?"

"You know what? I accept that."

"Very well." Winnie rose and started toward the gift shop door. "We will find it ourselves."

"Oh dear." Sue gave chase, but stopped to say goodbye first. "Sorry. She's a little antsy. Thanks for the chat." After a little wave, she was gone. She only caught up after reaching the front yard. Off to the left, Stan was arguing with the tour group about a rock that looked like a face. "Sister! Wait!"

"I need to walk around for a while or  _punch_ something," she hissed.

"Then let's take a walk." After she fell in with Winnie, the twins entered the forest. They moved in silence for a few minutes, passing through an endless clump of evergreens until reaching a stream that they decided to follow. The air was tense. It bothered Sue to see Winnie like this, but she lacked the strength right then to address the  _actual_  problem. Instead, her mind went to the possible task at hand. "I've got a question, though," she blurted out.

Winnie kept her face forward. "What?"

Sue looked over anyway. "What is a 'dinosaur'?"

* * *

Three hours of walking had gotten them only a change in the kind of trees that blotted out the sun. Now they were in a stand of immense sequoia, so broad and tall they could no longer see the forest for the trees in a very literal sense. Winnie had been quiet most of the time. Sue had finally gotten tired of it.

"Talk to me!" she demanded, fists clenched and voice bouncing harshly off the mighty trunks.

Her twin came to a slow halt before turning around. "What do you want me to say?"

Sighing, she leaned against one of the great trees and patted idly at her red dress. "Anything. There's no point in being quiet. Not even the sun can find us here. There are no ears to hide from."

Confronted with this logic, Winnie relented. "I haven't had a very good three days."

"Why?"

"You know why." She turned her back again and stared off. "I'm having to hide myself all over again. You never had to experience the fear."

"I... I guess not." Sue walked over and poked her in the side. "You're terrible at expressing pain, you know?"

Winnie frowned and swatted at her finger. "Of course I am. _You're_  more complete than me."

"Yes. But she offered to finish the process. Why didn't you take her up on it?"

Groaning, the blue-eyed twin turned away and walked a few steps. "After all she's done to us? I never want to see her again. I'm surprised you did."

Sue understood this feeling; a vague version of it lurked in her heart too. Unlike her sister, however, it never really had time to settle. To harden. "Maybe I won't either, eventually. Do you hate her?"

"I don't know  _how_  I feel, to be honest."

Despite her non-committal answer, the tension was broken. Seeing no reason to pursue the conversation any further, Sue moved on and waved for Winnie to follow. "Come on, we have vacationing to do. Do you smell the air?"

"Like pine-scented corpses. A smell I never thought I'd have to face again." Her eyes went to the canopy, where only small flecks of sky could be seen.

"Me neither. I guess I see why you're a little testy."

"Mm." They crested a hill and tried to get some sense of direction. "Where are we?"

"Who knows. As far as I can tell it's forest all the way to forever." Something up ahead got Sue's attention. "Wait. There's a gap in the trees." They had been split by a dirt path, wide enough for a car and curving off into the woods in both directions. The twins hopped down an embankment to reach it. "This must be our dirt road in the forest." She kicked at the trail and watched puffs of dust float away. "Which way should we try first?"

Winnie was looking at her phone. "No idea. And no signal. I suppose we'll just have to pick a direction and go." Left won. The path swayed to and fro like a drunk, forced to curve around redwoods that stood scarred and victorious over innumerable axes and chainsaws. Off in the extreme distance they heard the babbling of a creek but couldn't even get a glimpse of it. All her phone was good for now was keeping the time, and about twenty minutes of it passed before she noticed something white and shattered coming around a gentler bend. "Look." Her left arm raised. "See it?"

"Yes!" They broke into a run. The road died at the foot of an obliterated building, whose scraps had been launched several yards in all directions by some force. Bits of stained-glass windows littered the soil and grass. "Huh. Does this look like a church to you, sister?"

"Based on the ones I've seen. They tend to have some sort of colored glass windows." Winnie picked up a few shards and peered at them. "What happened here? It's destroyed."

"Maybe it was a dinosaur!" Sue was a bit too excited about the prospect.

"Oh, sister." Winnie rolled her eyes and tossed away the glass. Together they approached the church and, after some effort, found a way to slip into the rubble. At the back was the opening that lead into the earth. "I think we've found the hole." She noticed a coiled-up rope on the ground next to something spewing clouds of steam. "I suppose we have to jump."

Sue nodded. "Okay. Ready when you are." They dropped into the void, falling feet first and slamming onto the gray rock, where they crouched upon landing to dissipate the energy with a dreadful pair of thuds. Aside from the dust they kicked up, which caused a cough or two, neither woman seemed affected by the hundred-plus feet of air they'd just covered. A massive tunnel with a narrow-gauge track leading into it caught their eye. The red-eyed woman sucked in a deep breath. "Smell the air. It's so empty now."

"Yes, I noticed. Let's try the big tunnel first." Winnie lead the way, using her phone to provide light. Her brow furrowed abruptly. "And that's another thing. I'm tired of having to hide my hands again."

Sue looked at her own, skinned in peachy porcelain and seemingly unremarkable from fingernails to wrists. "Why? The people here don't know any better. It's safer for them that way."

"That's the point."

"Wow." Almost helplessly, she stopped and watched her sister walk ahead. "You really  _do_  need to punch something, huh?"

"Yes. I hope dinosaurs are durable. I have a lot of..." Winnie fell silent as the tunnel expanded into a large hollow full of columns of yellowish, translucent material. In many of these slept some awful reptile from the distant past – but more than a few of the columns were ripped open and empty, with little globs of melted liquid tracing paths away between massive footsteps. "I believe we've found them."

"Huh." Sue darted over to a stegosaurus and looked it over. "I didn't know lizards could get this big. This place is exciting!"

There was a smooth sarcasm in her sister's reply. "So very exciting." Before she could say more, a strange sound reached their ears. It was angry – and sort of screechy. "What was that?" There was no time for a guess. Out of the darkness charged a Utahraptor, thundering at the twins with fearsome strides. It was heavy enough to make the ground shake. Winnie tossed her phone over to Sue and prepared to defend herself as the creature arrived, mouth open and filled with pearly daggers to tear her asunder. She ducked under its lunge and shot through its rear legs, glancing at the massive upraised claws on each of its feet. When it turned to track her, she slammed a fist into the side of its jaw. A mighty crack echoed through the cavern, followed by a screech of pain that faded as the beast ran away from them. "Do I look like a snack to you?" she hissed lowly, smoothing her hair back down.

"Sister!" Sue popped out from behind a triceratops and frowned. "You didn't have to hurt it..."

"I should have torn its head off. Give me my phone." Once she had it again they pressed on, entering a corridor that lacked wooden braces and seemed natural in origin. A louder roar flowed from the opposite end. "Here we go again."

A much larger room awaited them, dome-shaped and full of giant skeletons. Fresh ones. The space was so big it ate the phone's light after a distance, making it impossible to get a true sense of its size. Another roar came, far louder and clearly coming from some other part of this cave. Heavy, rhythmic vibrations seemed to indicate something much larger than the raptor Winnie had just fought off. Those vibrations were getting stronger. Sue came to a stop, trying to pierce the darkness with her sight. "Um... Winnie?" She looked up as a pale glow lit a tremendous beast that towered above them. "Sister..."

Winnie was more resigned than surprised. "I see it."

The tyrannosaur let rip with another guttural cry and bent down to take a bite. Just as its snout reached the top of Winnie's head, it stopped – and despite incredible struggling could drop no further. Sue was under its mighty jaw, pushing up and holding it there with both hands. "This is a big one!" she yelled through clenched teeth. Confused and angry, the beast lifted up and gave chase as Winnie began to run. Sue avoided its ponderous gait and climbed up onto its back to ride it. "I'm riding a dinosaur!"

"Good idea." The blue-eyed woman jumped when the beast attacked again, then ran up the bridge of its nose to join her sister on its shoulders. "What do we do with this one?" It was quite displeased and started whirling about in circles. The twins slammed their palms down onto its leathery skin to stay aboard. "Well?"

"You stay here. I'll knock it out." Sue took the phone to light her way and dropped off, skittering across the stone like an insect – which, relatively speaking, was more or less what she was. It chased her vigorously, but she had better acceleration and left it behind. Once there was enough distance between them, she slid to a stop and let it charge her, loading up her right hand as it covered yards with each stride. Waiting until she could almost count the teeth in its mouth, she fired her ready punch and made contact between its nostrils. Its momentum was almost stopped cold; Sue slid back as the creature's inertia went to her, but it was mostly stationary – until it fell over onto its side with a wispy groan and went limp.

Winnie slid to the floor and walked over. "Good shot."

"Oops." She stooped and looked at the results of her strike. Considerable streams of red were pouring from the beast's nose. "I think I accidentally killed it."

"I'll pause for a moment of silence later." She waved off Sue's attempt to return her phone, and instead reached into the tyrannosaur's mouth. Her hand came out with a huge tooth. "Yes, it's probably dead."

"Huh." Sue looked at her hand and frowned. "I think I understand why you're so big on restraint."

"Mm." Another sniff of the air made her frown. "Let's go back up before something genuinely threatening finds us. I'll certainly keep this place in mind the next time I need to vent."

Souvenir in hand, the twins made their return trip. This went without incident and soon they were in the gray cavern once more, looking up at the hole. There was no discussion about how to get back, no planning and in fact, no speaking at all. They simply jumped, reaching the broken floor of the church with hardly any effort. Winnie put her phone away and eyed her toothy prize, but a sound from beyond the rubble made them pause. "I hear someone calling us."

"Mabel?" Sue emerged first and saw the Pines a little ways up the road, exhausted-looking and yelling their names. "Here we are!"

"Oh my gooooosh," Mabel wheezed. "Dipper! Here they are!" She greeted them with a weak wave and noted the dirty nature of Sue's red dress. "He was freaking out that you might have actually gone through with it. I guess he was right."

"We're fine," Winnie assured her, tucking the tooth out of sight as Dipper arrived. "Why did you come looking for us?"

His reply was breathless but didn't lack conviction. "Because I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I didn't make sure you were okay."

Sue gave him a happy pat on the hat. "How nice of you!"

"Hey, you got something." Dipper had noticed the tooth despite her best efforts to hide it. "Wow, big one. You guys find it in the church?"

Winnie brought it around front and held it up. It was obviously fresh, but the kids were too tired to notice. "No."

Mabel came over to look at it. "Fossil?" Her head tilted. "Wait, why is it red on the not-pointy part? I'm confused."

"I pulled it out of the mouth of a live one that tried to kill us." She nodded at her sister, then up the road. "Come on, let's go. I want to take a shower and look around town some more."

Her initial answer didn't sink in with either of the Pines because of their weary state, but long after the goodbyes had been exchanged and the identical twins were gone, they'd had a chance to catch their breath and steady their minds. "You know, they seem pretty nice. Could be good to have around if Bill comes back," Dipper noted, wiping sweat off his brow and getting ready for the walk back to the Mystery Shack.

"Yeah, I agree. And that tooth was awesome! I wants me one." Winnie's statement registered at last. Her eyes slowly widened. "Wait, did she say she pulled it from a live one that tried to kill them?"

"Huh? No, she said she pulled it from a... live one... that... wha?" His vocal cords gradually disconnected from thought as the realization reached his brain too. They looked at each other, sharing an equal amount of confusion and shock.


	3. And I Don't Care Who Sees

The dawn found Mabel and Dipper, bleary-eyed and yawning, in the back of Stan's ancient sedan. The three of them were headed to the lake – in a downpour. It was raining so hard they could hardly see the road out the windshield. If it hadn't been for their lack of sleep, the thought of their great uncle – cataracts and all – trying to see through the raindrops would have made them shriek with terror.

"Grunkle Stan, why do you hate us?" she asked, trying to rub the tired out of her eyes.

There was a large yellow-toothed smile on his face. "You two need some fresh air, and this time I'm gonna catch something! Something fish-shaped I mean. Besides, everyone knows there are two times to fish: when it's early, and when it's raining. We got the best of both worlds!"

Dipper, slumped forward against the seat belt because he had no power to sit upright, groaned long and loud. "Don't fish _sleep_ when's it early?"

"I don't have an answer for that. Besides, we're probably the only ones dumb—brave, I mean brave enough to go out. We'll have all of those bass to ourselves."

Mabel was wholly unable to think. "For _what_? What are we gonna do with fish?!"

Still grinning, he adjusted he glasses. "Cook them. Mount them on our walls as proof of our fishing prowess. _Sell them_! I haven't figured out who's gonna buy 'em yet, but give me a minute. There's some sucker somewhere. Probably on the internet tubes or whatever you call it now." Suddenly his face dropped. "I'm just gonna assume I'm still on the road."

Too sleepy for his brain to recognize danger or process panic, Dipper responded like a zombie. He currently looked like one anyway. "Unnnnnngh."

By some miracle they reached the lake. While Stan hopped out of the car, umbrella in hand, to go rent a boat, his great niece and nephew more or less fell out onto the ground and laid there. "Dipper, we have to... we have to move," Mabel droned around a mouthful of sand.

His body and brain were still disconnected, leaving him an immobile pile. "Get to the trunk. Gotta get the umbrellas."

She managed to engage her limbs first and stand up, dashing to the rear of the car as the frigid rain penetrated her sweater. In her rush, she only pulled out one umbrella, a bright yellow thing with a huge smiley face on top. Instead of fumbling for the other, she went back to Dipper and knelt down beside him to try to protect him from the rain until he was able to move. "Hey. Hey. Broface. Wake up," she encouragred, gently patting his cheek. "Dipper! You're gonna drown!"

"I _am_ up. Alive, I mean. Not literally up." He got to his knees, shaking with cold. "Where's Stan? Let's go push him into the lake."

After looking around, she gave him some help with standing. "In the shop, I guess. And we could, but who would drive us back?" Her face went blank. "On second thought it would probably be less dangerous if one of us were behind the wheel."

"No joke." They went to the trunk so he could get his own umbrella and the cooler full of soda. He began to drag it away toward the shore. "Look out there. I can't believe people are actually trying to fish in this disaster." Before long that included Stan, who raced out onto the lake screaming about making fish into trophies. "Wow. He forgot us."

"We couldn't go anyway, we ain't got any life jackets." Mabel peered through the deluge. "Sit on the shop porch and drink soda 'til we puke?"

Dipper shrugged his approval. "Sounds like a plan to me."

And so they did, watching the best – or at least most persistent – fishermen and women Gravity Falls had to offer fail hilariously at catching anything. "Um, how did Lazy Susan get her boat to turn upside down without falling out of it?" Mabel asked, pointing that way. The waitress was sitting on the capsized vessel, rowing toward the opposite end of the lake. "Look at her... uh, go. I guess."

"I don't know. It's way too early to brain." Half an hour passed as they tried to fully wake up. The rain eased some, but not much; most of the occupants of the smaller boats on the water had to bail constantly to keep afloat. This included Stan. "Bet you a dollar he sinks."

Mabel snorted. "I'd do better just giving you a dollar than take _that_ bet."

"Ha! Man, I'm freezing." Dipper tried to hide in his vest as she did with her sweaters. "Hey, I meant to ask you. What do you think of the new girls?"

She shrugged a little. "They seem nice. Winnie's a little scary though. Kinda reminds me of Gideon except taller and prettier."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." He stared off in thought. "You really think she got that tooth from a living dinosaur?"

"Come on, bro-bro, she'd have to be a freaking superhero to do that. She was just messing with us."

"Yeah. You're right." The conversation died there due to a pervasive, but distant noise that came from over their shoulders where the highway was. "What _is_ that? Do you hear it?"

"Huh?" Mabel set her soda down and looked back. A few seconds passed; she let the sound get louder and clearer before trying to put a label on it. "Car? Sounds _evil_. There weren't any Transformer type death-bots in the journal, were there?"

"No, thank goodness." He stood and walked off the porch with Mabel not far behind. "Boy, you weren't kidding about the 'evil' part. It's like a dragon with psychosis."

The din was so apparent now that people on the lake were looking for its source. "This better not be aliens. I didn't get enough sleep for aliens."

Fortunately, the source was terrestrial – but no less breathtaking. A silver beast of a car slipped through the trees and pulled up beside Stan's old clunker. Its exhaust note was indescribable both in volume and tone, at least until the engine was cut and the two doors opened. The identical twins stepped out – Winnie had been driving – and waved at a stunned Dipper and Mabel.

"Is this a Lamborghini?!" he exclaimed, running over. "Wendy said you guys were rich, but _whoa_!"

"Great googly moogly," Mabel whispered, jaw dropped and one hand on her face. Her eyes were drawn to the odd interior color – black with green accents – and the enormous red brake calipers. "We heard you coming for miles!"

"Do you like it? It's very shiny!" Sue beamed at them, then at her sister. "I can't pronounce its name, though."

"Huracán. I believe it's Italian for hurricane?" Winnie shrugged. "Whatever. I like the noise it makes."

"Of course you do." Neither woman had umbrellas, so they followed the twins back to the shelter of the shop porch. "Why is your uncle fishing in a rainstorm?"

Mabel shook her head at him; he was the only one on the lake not trying to take a picture of the supercar with a camera or phone. "Because he's old and nobody's going to tell him what to do. And I think he has a vendetta against bass."

Sue blinked. "...interesting. Anyway, my sister wanted to apologize and there was a note on the door that said you were here. Actually, it said – and I quote – 'We are at the lake don't bother us go away'."

Dipper's brow furrowed. "Gee, I wonder who wrote that." This time they all looked toward Stan. He looked back and gave Winnie a wry grin. "Get any more dinosaur teeth?"

Realizing he took her statement yesterday as a joke, Winnie decided to run with it. "I'm afraid not." Her smile faded. "I didn't mean to seem so unhappy yesterday. I've been dealing with some... personal things." Her eyes darted over as Mabel glomped onto her right side. "Huh?"

She issued a few pats on the back. "S'okay. We all have days. Besides, Sue already apologized for you."

With a sigh, she relaxed and accepted the hug. "I know. I wanted to do it in person. I try not to come across as scary, but Sue is better at it than I am."

"It's cool." Dipper glanced back at their car. "Dang. I'm just waiting for Stan to figure out how much that thing cost and come over here looking for cash."

The red-eyed woman nudged her sister. "Which reminds me, what was the price on the invoice again?"

Winnie, still bearing a Mabel-shaped leech, shrugged again. "Two hundred and eighty-five thousand something. It's not like the money matters."

Several laws of physics were violated the moment she uttered those words. Stan appeared before them as if by magic, a broad smile on his face. The Pines recognized it as his semi-professional 'prepare to get conned' expression, while the other two twins were just startled by his sudden arrival. "Good morning, ladies! I'm Stan Pines, Gravity Falls' most beloved entrepreneur." His face screwed up. "Well, behind that guy who runs the arcade. And the Greasy's Diner guy. And the... fourth. I am at least the fourth most beloved entrepreneur in Gravity Falls. I couldn't help but notice your exceptional taste in motor vehicles." He thumbed over to the Lamborghini, eyebrows waggling.

"Grunkle Stan, don't you dare," Mabel warned, her eyes narrowed. "These our are new friends! Don't do the things!'

He put on his best insulted face and adjusted his glasses. "What things? I'm not doing any things. I'm simply complimenting the obvious financial acumen and/or enormous family inheritance of, uh, what are your names again?"

"I'm Winnie. This is Sue." The blue-eyed woman regarded Stan with a confused look. "How did you get over-

"Never mind that. Did you say that thing cost you almost three _hundred_ grand?"

Sue crossed her arms. "Well, yes. So what?"

"Hmm. That's a pretty wad of dough to drop on a car, you know. Got any cash I could, uh, borrow? It'd be an investment of course. You'd get... stuff. A great ROI and compound interest and other words and acronyms." Stan rubbed his hands together, grinning like a madman. "And I'd get sweet, sweet cash! Everyone wins."

"Grunkle Stan!" Both Dipper and Mabel yelled at him this time.

The identical twins were by now engaged in a staring contest with each other. It got awkward after a few seconds – especially for the old man. "Oh boy, you're doing that thing these two do. That twins thing with the no talking. Stop it! Stop with the creepy! Use words like the rest of us!"

Their silent conversation was over. Winnie stood up and stared him dead in the eye. "If we actually did give you money, what would we get in return?"

"Well, uh... gonna be honest here, I didn't really expect you to consider the offer." He moved off a few steps and faced away while thinking.

"No! Don't do it!" Dipper yelled, waving his hands. "He'll rob you blind!"

Mabel agreed vehemently, but soon lost her train of thought. "Yeah! He'll... hee hee hee, he's kinda blind. A blind guy robbing people blind."

Sue also stood. Both sisters sported expressions that made the young Pines' skin crawl. "The last people that tried to steal from us didn't fare well," Sue said, her voice lacking all its usual cheerfulness. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"Okay, this just got tense," Dipper pointed out. "Stan, seriously. Leave them alone. They just moved in."

"But they're rich!" He looked remarkably pouty. "Throw me a bone! I'll... I'll give you free bobbleheads! They're Stantastic!"

His niece snapped her arm in the direction the lake. "No! No bones! Get back on your boat and go fish!"

"Awwwww." Stan walked off the porch, but whirled around and pointed at Winnie and Sue. "You're lucky the kids like you!" He received a pair of hellish glares in reply. "Yeesh. You two are grumpier than me. I didn't think that was possible." He turned away and went back toward the docks.

Mabel rubbed her face and sighed. "I am so sorry."

Sue was still displeased. "He seems... nice."

"He'll grow on you," Dipper said, sitting back down. "Believe it or not. Right now he probably just views you guys as tourists. Walking wallets full of cash."

"Like a big money pinata!" Mabel also sat, wincing at the splinters that jabbed into her thighs. "Yeowch! Stupid wood! Haven't you people heard of belt sanders?"

Winnie smoothed her hair back and sighed, releasing an invisible cloud of frustration. "Let's go home. I'm getting tired of the weather. Perhaps we'll drop by the shack if the weather clears up and see something interesting together."

"Sure!" Mabel stood and gave each a quick hug. "Really though we are so, so, _so_ sorry. Once that man sees dollar signs... ugh."

At least the red-eyed woman had regained her usual cheer. "It's all right. See you later!" Just as soon as they were back in the car, she looked at Winnie and frowned. "We should actually get to the _vacation_ part of our vacation, shouldn't we?"

"Tell that to the air." She started the engine and relished the noise it made. "It's driving me insane. Why would it feel like this? It's too similar."

They were pulling out and back onto the road, so Sue had to wait for the metallic apocalypse behind her to quiet down. "I agree, but what if we break something by finding out?" Winnie's face bent with anger. "Sister?"

"Don't you get tired of feeling like you have to walk on eggshells? I do." There was no answer. They drove on in whatever amount of silence the engine felt like giving them. "I thought the point of a vacation was to feel better. Maybe we should go back."

"But we've already made friends."

She just sighed and kept on driving. "Yes. At least something went right."

"And they know something odd is going on, even if they perceive it differently. I wish he had that journal. Maybe it would help put your mind at ease."

"Maybe." Winnie pulled up for a red light and glanced around. "I'm surprised at how similar things are here. They even drive on the right. We'd better bring some of the electronics with us when we return, though."

"Ooo, yes. Laptops are neat. I know _someone_ who'll like them." They shared a grin. "I hope things are getting along well without us."

"I'm sure they're fine. If they needed us, they would come out here and get us."

"Right." Sue looked out her window at more people taking pictures of their car. "Uh, I think we're using the wrong kind of transportation. Everyone's staring at it."

"We could draw far more attention than this. Besides, you could call it 'hiding in plain sight'." Her twin launched the Lamborghini and headed for the hills. "Speaking of hiding, I think we can drop the nicknames. That boy's name is Dipper. Our real ones are no worse than his."

"Aw, I happen to like them. Honestly, yours is hilarious." A pointed look from her sister caused a laugh. "Besides, it's a chance for us to be someone new!"

Winnie's eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure I agree with that sentiment."

* * *

They found themselves back at the Mystery Shack just after noon. Once again, their ride attracted attention. This time it came from a tour group waiting to go in.

"Hey! You wanna take a picture of that thing, give me five dollars!" Stan demanded, standing between them and the Lamborghini to block their views.

Eyes rolling, the twins ignored him and walked to the side of the house. The moment Sue opened the door and looked to the living room, where Dipper and Mabel were, Wendy burst in through the gift shop. "Holy crap!" she yelled, pointing outside. "Do you see that thing parked out front?"

Dipper chuckled at her. "We know, it's theirs. By the way, hey."

Winnie couldn't help but smile at the redhead's slack-jawed look. "Hello." The sensation she felt before wafted around, just out of reach of her usual senses. Sue felt it too – both twins' eyes narrowed when they glanced at each other. "It sure is... muggy."

"Yeah," Mabel agreed around a mouthful of some chips. "I don't even need a drink! I just breathe and get _gallons_ of water."

Wendy interrupted, walking closer. "C-can I go check out your car?" she asked timidly. "I wanna post a pic on Facebook. Tambry is gonna freak out."

"Sure!" Sue replied happily. "I still feel like we went overboard," she added, addressing her sister with crossed arms after the redhead was gone.

"I do not care." Winnie's interest was on the TV. The volume was down, but on screen was an odd-looking boy with poofy white hair. He appeared to be in a prison. "What are you watching?"

"Ugggggggggggh," Mabel groaned dramatically. "Lil' Gideon's Big House. This is the jerk I was talkin' about yesterday."

"And we're not watching it, we're waiting on the next show," her brother corrected. "Which happens to be Mabel's favorite."

"Happy little clouds!" she blurted out, throwing her hands into the air. "Woooo!"

"I... see. I guess." Winnie nudged Sue, now standing on her right, to stop her giggling. "We were wondering if you'd give us the special tour now. The one you mentioned yesterday."

"Aww, but also yay! Let me get my sneakers!" Mabel was gone in a flash, thumping up the stairs before Dipper could even stand.

"Heh. You know, it's nice to have a few more people willing to accept something weird is going on around here," he admitted, straightening his vest. "I mean, besides Wendy, but I think it bothers her a little. You guys don't seem to mind."

"Nope. We've seen things you people wouldn't believe!" Sue's chipper tone made the words sound a little odd.

Dipper's face went blank. "Oh. I'll just not even ask."

"Good idea." Winnie moved them all toward the door as Mabel hopped back down. "This should be interesting."

Oh, was it ever. The four walked away from the Mystery Shack and toward town. One of the Pines would start weaving a tale of insanity only for the other to take over and finish it. Some of the stories had only one narrator, such as the tale of the Manotaurs. Others, like the Summerween Trickster, were a tennis match of competing viewpoints. Winnie and Sue were content to listen, only speaking when checked on. Thanks to their leisurely pace, by the time Gravity Falls came into view the identical twins had a full overview of the Pines' summer escapades.

"Truth teeth," Sue mumbled while looking around. "I'm not sure where to go with that."

Mabel shuddered with the recollection. "Stan's mouth is one place to avoid. Ugh."

"Hey, let's go somewhere none of us have been." Dipper waved them toward a side street instead of going downtown. "The journal mentioned something about the old hospital. Some sort of weird ghosts that are supposed to haunt it."

"Wouldn't we have to break in?" Mabel squealed at his nod. "I love breaking into things! We've gotten so good at it, too." Winnie and Sue shared a confused look, but stayed quiet.

Their target was toward the hills, but not as far as the conclave of rich residents, nor as high. It took the form of a square, three-floor, concrete building missing several windows. The parking lot was cracked and riddled with grassy streaks. More than one light post was absent. All of it was surrounded by a high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Even the road that went by seemed abandoned, with only one or two cars going past as they walked closer. Despite the sun shining down it made for an unsettling scene.

"Dang, talk about pegging the needle on the creep-o-meter," Mabel grumbled. Her eyes went up to the fence. "How are we gonna get over this?"

Dipper frowned at the razor wire. "Let's check the back."

There wasn't anything helpful to be found in the rear. The fence was unbroken all the way around the property. Winnie and Sue were deadly silent. That wafting spark of sensation was present again, stronger than in the town, but not quite as potent as the pall over the Mystery Shack. While the Pines fussed with an entry plan, they walked off to have a private chat. "It's gathered here, too." Winnie concluded. "Did it follow us?"

"No... it doesn't feel the quite the same." Sue's eyes darted between gaps in the glass. "Let's cut the fence. They're not looking."

The blue-eyed woman was a bit surprised. "You want to go in that badly? We could just pretend to give up and come back tonight."

"No." Her tone was like steel. "Something... something about it is bothering me."

"All right."

Winnie stepped to the fence and dragged her fingertip along the links, about eye-level, for a few feet. The metal gave way to some unseen force. Sue did the same, except vertically, and in a few seconds a section drooped away to step through. "I suppose I could have done this to the dinosaurs," she admitted, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Sometimes, sister, there is no substitute for a punch." Winnie spun and called the kids with hands cupped around her mouth. "There's a hole here!"

"Sweet!" Mabel replied, running over with Dipper in tow. "Ha, beat ya to it."

"I wasn't ready," he countered with a glare. His eyes went to the hole. "Man, how did we miss this? I wonder if someone's been stealing stuff. This looks like it was cut."

His sister shrugged, skipping along after the other twins, who had already entered. "No cares given. As long as they aren't in there _now_. Then I might care."

The interior of the hospital was infinitely more dreadful. Light from outside didn't travel far, leaving the empty interior fringed by darkness. It was hard to tell much about the color scheme. All the paint was faded badly. Broken fixtures hung from the ceiling. Cracks riddled the tile floors. To fight the shadows, Dipper reached into his vest and produced a flashlight. "Good thing I always carry this around."

"Yeaaaaaah," Mabel droned, her mind clearly elsewhere. "Man. It is depressing as balls in here."

"Why do you think it was abandoned?" Winnie asked, leading them past the reception desk and toward a stairwell. A distinct pang of dread was settling in. Sue's eyes said it had hit her too.

"The journal didn't really say, just that something bad happened. So bad they built a new hospital. And everyone that came here afterward went missing." He swept the light around as they went. "Wow. I did not think this through."

"Aw, it'll be fine. There are four of us! We can deal with it." Mabel's optimism was choked by a cloud of dust as they climbed the stairs. She coughed for several seconds. "Although breathing would be a thing I'd like to do right now..."

The identical twins had run out of words. They communicated instead with touches and glances in the dim light. Both were coming to a conclusion: something _else_ was here. The sting of whatever it was saturated the musty air, though it had a different pitch than outside. As they left the stairwell and moved through the second floor, that sensation grew. Before long they ignored the Pines' conversation to focus on other voices drifting around. Soon they entered a large space. The flashlight's glow revealed it didn't have the same color scheme as everywhere else; it was pink and blue, at least where paint still existed. There were also faded balloons and bears and other images everywhere. A pungent odor hung in the air, so strong Mabel had to wave it away from her face.

"Ew, what the heck?" she complained. "What is that-" Her eyes bulged when the flashlight swept across a haphazard cluster of bones in the corner. They didn't seem kid-sized. "Uh... guys?"

"Yeah! Yeah. Oh boy." Dipper avoided shining the light on them again. "Is anyone else cold?"

"Well, duh. No windows," Mabel pointed out.

"But it's so hot outside. It should be warmer than this." He noticed the silence from their companions and shone the light at them. They were staring at the skeletal remains. "You guys still with us?"

"Something is speaking," Sue whispered. Her eyes traveled everywhere but where the kids were.

Winnie was doing much the same. "No, it's not words. What is this?"

"Wait, what? You hear something?" Mabel strained to detect sound. "All I hear is me trying to hear stuff."

Sue snapped her fingers for attention. "Hold on. Look." A tiny yellow ball of light, no bigger than a fingernail, was floating in front of her face.

"Oh! A fairy!" Mabel approached excitedly, only to frown after getting close. "Aw, it's just a ball of mystery light. Boo."

"There are more!" Dipper exclaimed, hand raised toward the ceiling. Hundreds of them floated there, looking like a swarm of fireflies in the darkness. More winked to life as they watched. "Great. Hopefully these won't make me dress up in stupid costumes. Or add me to that pile of death over there. Oh man. Please be nice ghosts. Please?"

Before Mabel could agree with him, the orbs began to coagulate. They formed a huge, wobbling sphere of light in the corner opposite of the bones. "Whoa! W-whoa..." She wilted on her feet and stumbled, along with Dipper, away from the thing. "Why do I wanna cry?"

He already was, based on the sound of his voice. "Is it doing something to us?"

Winnie and Sue, however, were stoic – at least until the double doors they'd entered through slammed shut and caused them to jump. "It certainly doesn't want us to leave," the blue-eyed woman said, her body tensing up.

"I... what's the point of even trying," Mabel droned suddenly. "I just... want to sleep."

Dipper's tone was even more gloomy. "Yeah. Let's stay here."

The massive sphere began to pulse. When Sue walked up to it, however, it ceased and grew dim. Winnie joined her a few seconds later.

"Lonely," Sue muttered. "And sad. I hear tones without words. They sound human, but what are they saying?" When the answer hit her, she let out a long, pained sigh. "Sister, these sound like children."

"Do you mean-" She matched the noise against one from a memory and slumped forward. "If they died too young, they never would have had a chance to get attached to anything. That's..." Her voice failed.

Not that the rest of her statement mattered right now. They looked back at the kids, lying on the floor and curled up. "You can't hurt us," Sue informed the glowing mass.

"It doesn't want to, it just wants to play." Mabel sounded like a robot by this point.

"They'll die here if we don't do... you know."

Winnie looked at Sue for a long time. "What if they can't keep our secret?" she asked, nodding over her shoulder.

For this, she had no answer. They stared into the yellow light, each wrangling with a set of thoughts that weighed a thousand tons. It cried out to them with a chorus both strange and familiar all at once. Their faces might have been blank, but those voices battered their hearts with an inconceivable sadness – a sadness borne of actions they would have moved mountains to forget.

Sue finally found the strength to reply. Her fingers curled up into tight fists as the sphere began to pulse again. "I don't care. There will be no more blood on my hands. I'd rather they live and shout it from the rooftops than allow them to die in ignorance."

"Very well." Their stances became more martial as the light moved towards them. "Time to throw away our leashes for a while."


	4. Slippery Slope

Like a massive drop of molten gold, it flowed around their bodies. Despite the light, however, there was precious little warmth. Once the twins were engulfed its sound got much clearer – at least in volume. The noise was still little more than indecipherable babble.

Moving was difficult, but they were still in sight of each other and felt no need to struggle. "I don't think it knows how to speak," Sue pointed out. "It's too young. Can you make out anything?"

"Not really. All the voices I've heard actually know the language." Her hand swept through the glow, leaving smoky eddies in its wake. As time passed, she gathered one thing at least: "It's – no,  _they're_  scared and confused. I wonder if anyone's tried talking to them before."

"Mrm." A strange haze was forming in her mind as she tried to decipher their speech. "Harsh light. A smile. Pain?"

Winnie waded over and shook her gently. "The laments of those who died too young. It's so raw. And cloudy. I'm used to seeing it sparkle."

"It never had a chance to clear up, I guess." She peered through the golden fog and into the room beyond. "No windows. I wonder... I wonder how many of them ever saw the sun?"

The blob shuddered with a tone that seemed to warble as much as its shape. With some odd form of desperation, it slashed around them as if trying to deliver an embrace. The air seemed to freeze. Dipper and Mabel emitted a pained groan that was almost lost in the aether. "Sister, we have to kill it," Winnie advised sadly. "Or it'll kill them."

Her eyes grew wide with horror. "No! They're been through enough! Can't you hear their pain? Their... they are  _so_  confused. They were happy and then it was dark."

"Then let's put them out of their misery."

The wobbly glow let rip with a guttural cry of terror, whose pitch changed to anger. It threw itself against them forcefully, repeatedly, but could not make their sturdy bodies yield. In a flash it retreated to the corner and curled up upon itself. It looked roughly like a bean.

"There has to be a better way," Sue demanded. Tears clung to her cheeks. "I don't think it knows what's doing."

Winnie looked over as the Pines cried out again, then up at the ceiling. She left Sue there and launched herself at the doors, shoulder first. They flew open. "I think you might be right. It's just a big... baby." The blob, wailing, tried to slam them shut again, but her powerful arms stopped it. "It's weak. But so are they."

Sue nodded as she went over to check the young twins. They drew ragged, sporadic breaths. Both were weeping. "I don't think they can take the sad."

"Or the effect of the... ghost, I suppose you'd call it. I don't want to kill it any more than you, but..." An idea suddenly struck. "Wait. Let's make it a deal."

Her sister's head tilted as she rolled Dipper onto his side. "Huh?"

Winnie had no time to look at her; her eyes were squarely on the quivering yellow spirit. "Let us have them. I'll show you the sun. I'll let you out of here."

"It probably doesn't even understand us!" Sue yelled.

However, the light dimmed and unfurled, becoming a ball again as it floated over to Winnie. She turned to it, allowing the doors to close behind her. "You can't find your way. You're afraid of the dark." Her gentle hand ran over its surface as she spoke. "I wonder if the dark is what took you?"

Sue let her head hang low. "We're scaring it. I bet we're not the first it's tried to interact with and hurt. Probably by accident."

"You could be right," she agreed, then addressed the light again. "We mean you no harm." Winnie's voice was nearly a whisper. "Sue, take them outside. I might have to bring the building down to keep my promise."

"Okay. Please be careful." Sue gathered up the Pines, who were like feathers in her arms, and approached the doors. They opened for her. "I guess you really do understand!" She paused in the doorway and flashed a smile at the ghost. "It'll be all right. My sister will make sure." And she was gone, her footsteps scraping as she moved over the faded linoleum.

Winnie sighed as the doors closed again. "I'd better give her a few minutes," she decided, using her phone as a stopwatch. The sphere, pulsing gently, now floated around the room in a curious fashion. "Tone is everything when dealing with kids. I guess I learned a few things after all." To kill the seconds – and to keep her ethereal companion calm – Winnie kept on talking. "My sister and I have been where you are, you know? Confused. Alone. Scared – of ourselves, many times. You can't figure out why you ended up like this and all you want is someone to understand. To make it better." It made a warped, but pleasant noise in response. "There's no one to make it better for us... but at least we can make it better for others." Her phone emitted a happy chirp. "Oh?" A text from Sue. "'Go for it.' Very well."

The irises of her eyes began to glow, casting a turquoise shine. Around her, the concrete reacted to  _something_. Cracks raced through it, flinging sharp noises through the cold air. Whatever was hammering the structure also hit the golden blob, causing it to ripple like mercury. More instruments joined the symphony – the shrieking failure of steel rebar being pulled apart was the loudest of the bunch. The third floor fell around them as if by magic, leaving the ward without a roof. The second floor dropped shortly afterward. Winnie crouched reflexively, but her feet remained still. Muggy air raced in, beating the sunlight through the dust and haze. As soon as the puffy clouds above became visible, the golden blob emitted a thrilled squeal and shattered. A thousand points of yellow light shot up and away.

Winnie started to cough as her eyes dimmed. "And it will never be... never be dark again," she choked out slowly. Her exertions left her a bit winded. Seeing as she was on top of the pile and in no danger, she decided to catch her breath. At least, that was the idea until she heard Mabel screeching her name over the settling of the destroyed building. "Oops."

Outside, beyond the fence and the enormous column of dust, both of the Pines were yelling. "Holy moley, did I just watch somebody die?!" Mabel shouted, waving at her face with a sweater sleeve.

"Winnie!" Dipper yelled. He started through the fence, only for Sue to hold him back. "Let me go! We have to find her!"

"It's too dangerous for us," she chided him gently, then realized she needed to sound a little more worried. "Winnie! Where are you?"

"Out of my way! I'm going in!" Mabel dashed past them, a battle cry springing from her lips. It turned into a loud, surprised grunt not long after she entered the concrete haze.

Dipper and Sue exchanged a worried look. "Mabel?" the former called. "What happened?"

A chipper "Found her!" sprang from the cloud. Soon after Winnie emerged, striding along with Mabel on her shoulders. "See? No problem," the girl added with a huge grin.

"Sister!" No fakery was needed as Sue dashed over and clamped on in a hug.

Mabel dropped off to let them have their moment – a moment which she got bored with after about fifteen seconds. "Okay, we're all cool. What happened to the ghost?"

Her brother held the hole in the fence open so the ladies could get through. "Yeah, did it make you black out too?"

The identical twins shared a glance. "I was a little woozy," Winnie admitted after a brief pause. "It must have saved me from the collapse. Nothing fell on me as I ran out."

"Oh, right." Sue blinked a few times to clear her eyes. "I hope you're not mad at me for grabbing them first..."

Knowing she was formulating a ruse, the blue-eyed woman played along and shook her head. "Of course not. You had to help them."

"Speaking of which, that was a  _really_  bro thing to do," Mabel interrupted, hugging Sue's leg. "You kinda ditched your own sister to get us out. I can't even handle you right now."

She issued a shrug and anxious laugh. "Oh, you couldn't walk. I wasn't going to leave you."

Dipper flashed her a huge smile. "Seriously, thank you. How were you awake to do anything, though? All I remember is mind-numbing sadness, then, I don't know. It felt like falling asleep."

Winnie managed a half-smirk as she lead the group back toward the street. "Like I said, Sue was always the optimist. She probably encouraged herself to get up." Sirens in the distance got her attention. "We'd better get back." A glance over the shoulder revealed her twin welding the fence back together with a fingertip. "And avoid being caught."

"Woo! Fugitives!" Mabel's hands went to the sky, then dropped almost as fast. "Wait, no. We didn't do anything but break in. Buuuuut that's still a crime." Up they went again. "Woo! Fugitives!"

"You know, if we go to jail we'll end up with Gideon." Dipper snickered at the look of sheer horror on her face. "I agree about going home. There's a twenty percent chance Stan will notice we're not around."

"Boo. Fine, I guess we gotta use the adrenaline from poking death in the nose  _somehow_."

Off they went, down the hill and back toward Gravity Falls. The sisters lagged behind a few feet to have a semi-private chat. "Our lie might be enough for them, but I still have questions," Sue muttered unhappily.

Winnie's response was almost cold. "Mm. Knowing what you know already, do you really want answers?"

The ever-present tingle that plague them made her brow furrow. "I... I don't know. Maybe some things are best left buried." Her hand swept about randomly. "Like... you know."

"No. I can't let that one go." Her next few steps were slower. More listless. "There are many things I can't let go. Besides, if it exists here... what if there's someone like us, too?"

Such a thought made Sue's heart skip. "Maybe, but let's talk about this later." Curious looks from Mabel up ahead were what caused her to kill the conversation.

The trip back was slower. Mabel and Dipper's lungs had ingested a sizable amount of destroyed hospital, leaving them breathless halfway into the forest. The other twins hoisted them up onto their shoulders for the remainder of the journey. As the Mystery Shack came into view, they saw a huge crowd surrounding the silver Lamborghini.

"How can they still be taking pictures of my car?" Winnie grumbled. "We've been gone for hours."

Just past the crush, Grunkle Stan was standing in a literal pile of money. His gleeful cackles filled the air. Dipper rolled his eyes at the sight, moaning "Oh boy. Looks like your ride just became a museum exhibit."

"Is that so? Well, the museum is about to close."

They shed their young cargo and approached the crowd. Before trying to push through it, however, they turned around to say goodbyes. "Today was... fun? I'm not sure how to qualify what happened," Sue laugh awkwardly. "I'm glad everyone turned out okay."

Winnie's smile was even at best. "Yes. Next time, let's visit something that won't try to crush us." The woman tossed up a wave and disappeared into the crowd.

"Byeeeeee!" Mabel yelled, jumping in place and waving madly. "Thanks for saving us from certain death!"

Dipper shouted too, but remained on the ground. "Yeah, next time I'll try thinking my tour selection through, 'cause uh. Not my proudest moment."

A mechanical roar scattered the tourists. The silver beast made a tight circle in the yard to point its nose at the path, then departed with a scream and a cloud of dust. Stan took control, directing everyone into the gift shop. "Hey, kids! Do me a favor and move this cash indoors!" he yelled, following the suckers inside.

"Fine, fine." Dipper shed his cap and examined the money as they walked over. "We're gonna need a wheelbarrow for this. Or a dump truck. How much was he charging them?" No reply came. He looked over to see Mabel stuffing bills down her sweater. The smile on her face said it all – she was deep in thought. "Earth to Mabel Pines? Helloooo?"

Their eyes suddenly met, but her vapid grin was frozen solid. "They're lying through their teeth," she stated flatly. "I'm the happiest person I know and that room made me hate breathing." She started to cough. "I mean for reasons other than dust," she added painfully, pounding her chest.

"Oh, come on. So they were lucky enough to not get knocked out by the ghost. And Winnie was lucky enough to avoid every single piece of a collapsing building." He dropped the cash in his hands while mentally recapping what he just said. "Wait. If I had that kind of luck I'd be-

She knew exactly where he was going and cut him off. "-rich enough to drive a Lamborghini? Dip, I think they've got some sort of gift. What if they're like, a Gideon that's not a complete and total fraud? What if they're  _Bill_ but human-shaped?!"

Dipper wiped the sweat off his brow and frowned. "Okay, whoa up on the Bill comparison. I don't think there's anything else on this planet like him. As for the other... they've been pretty nice to us so far. I mean, saving our lives and stuff has to count for something."

"True, yeah, but Gideon was super nice to me too and we ended up with a lobster and a giant murderbot." She looked down upon realizing how stuffed her sweater was. "You've been a mope since Stan took the journal. Let's go do some independent Mystery Twin investigating!"

He slumped a bit. "I can't decide if I hate that name or not." Mabel was still beaming hopefully as he looked back up. "Oh, fine. What's the worst that could hap—never mind. I don't want an answer."

"Woohoo! I'm gonna go make some more fake IDs!"

"Great. Can it wait until morning, though?" He rubbed at his chest, grimacing with discomfort. "We need to sleep off the asthma."

* * *

They spent the rest of that day planning an approach. Mabel's idea – asking them directly – won out, because it was the simplest and their bodies and minds were still recovering from almost getting killed. Just after breakfast the next day, they prepared to move out.

"'Dear Grunkle Stan'," she dictated to herself. "'Dipster and I are going to go con some people and make you proud. We will be gone for a while. Love, Mabel.'" She taped the note to the cash register and grinned. "How's that sound?"

He shrugged at her. "Good enough for me."

"Awesome." Her tongue stuck out with concentration as she replaced every dot on every I with a little heart. "Okay. Let's do this."

Wendy rolled in on her bike just as the twins got outside. "What's up, guys? You hear about the old hospital collapsing? Freaky stuff, man."

Mabel replied in a single breath as they walked past. "We sure did and also had absolutely nothing to do with it whatsoever! We're going to town to do stuff good luck with the register bye!"

"Uh... okay? Have fun I guess?" Wendy blinked and waved, watching them jog away.

Dipper rolled his eyes after there was some distance between them and the teenager. "Wow. Stan levels of smoothness there, Mabel."

"Shut up, it's early and my brain is full of asbestos."

Thanks to the cool morning air, the process of getting to Gravity Falls was pleasant, if slow. The streets weren't quite deserted, but only the restaurants and a couple of shops were open. The smells wafting around from the former were making Dipper hungry. "Man. Did you keep any of that money? I'm dying for some food." He winced. "I really should not have said 'dying'."

"Nope." Mabel patted her tummy unhappily. "Eh, Winnie and Sue will feed us. Probably something really, really healthy." The mental image of tofu made her shoulders drop. "Aw, man. I want a sausage biscuit, not flavorless soybean sponges."

Some minutes later they reached the outskirts of town and the road that lead up to the wealthy neighborhood. It stretched out and up ahead of them, like a freshly paved Mount Everest. "Wow, um," Dipper swallowed. "I didn't think it was this long. Or tall."

"Of course it is. The rich folks have to be protected from poors like us." Mabel screwed up her courage and started walking. "Come on, bro. Let's burn some calories!"

Halfway up they ran into a blonde girl, decked out in full workout regalia, who was doing just that. "Oh. My gosh," Pacifica snarled, coming to an uneven halt to glare. "What are  _you_  doing up here? The lame part of town is that way." She pointed angrily down the hill.

"Good morning to you too! We're going to see some friends." Mabel's cheer was strained. Dipper gave her a worried glance.

Pacifica burst out laughing. It seized her so completely that she doubled over, then sat roughly on the sidewalk and gasped for air. "Friends! Up here! Oh, that is – pardon the pun – rich. What, did Grenda eat a bank vault?"

"Hey! She can't help her outsized skeletal structure." That only caused another round of laughing. "You don't believe me? Come on. I'll  _show_  you _."_

"Uh, Mabel, maybe we shouldn't bring her along. They might not like the—mmhph!" he yelped as she slapped a hand over his mouth.

"I am in no mood. She started it, I'm gonna finish it," she explained lowly before turning back to the blonde. "Prepare to eat ostrich!"

Pacifica cocked a brow. "It's crow, you dork."

"Whatever!"

But she did tag along, lagging behind the twins as Mabel stormed up the hill. A helpless Dipper was only along for the ride. The homes only got more lavish the higher they went. Once at the top, they saw the silver Lamborghini parked in one of the driveways. "Yeah! There we go!" she shouted, running ahead.

"I better not get arrested for this," Pacifica growled.

Sue was on the front porch, mug in hand as she watched them approach. "Oh dear. Sister!" she yelled back at the open door. "We have visitors!"

Winnie stepped out a few moments later. The kids had just reached the steps. "Oh. Mabel. Dipper. And..." Her head cocked as she regarded Pacifica. "You."

"You cannot be serious," the blonde muttered, dumbfounded. "You know them? By name?"

Sue poured on the happiness after taking a drink from her mug. "Sure, they're our friends!"

"From way downtown," Mabel whispered, her arms up like she'd really taken a basketball shot. "Bang!"

The blonde refused to be defeated. "Well, that's... hiiiiiii!" Her voice suddenly dripped with smug confidence. "I'm Pacifica Northwest. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." The identical twins had baffled looks as she shook their hands. "My family owns the mud flap factory, the saw mill, the hydroelectric plant, the... aha, we may as well own all of central Oregon!" At her urging, everyone looked toward the sports car. "Mmm, love the ride. If your taste in cars means anything, we're gonna be  _good_  friends."

"I feel the need to apologize," Dipper interjected with a hand raised. He shrank when both girls glared at him. "Okay, we're still fighting. Uh... Winnie? Sue? Help me."

The blue-eyed woman nodded for him to follow. "What are you doing here?" She glanced at her twin, who also came in with them.

"We've got a few-" Shouting from outside stopped him for a minute. "Wow, she wasn't kidding about not being in the mood. Anyway, we wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Oh?" If Winnie were feeling pressure, it didn't show. "About what?"

"You."

The women looked at him with unreadable eyes. "Are we really that interesting?" Sue blurted out cheerfully. "Then again, I guess we do come off as rather mysterious."

"Mm." Winnie couldn't add anything more before Mabel flung the door open and walked in. "Who was that girl?"

She threw up her arms and walked to the couch. "Oh, just a  _complete_  bi-"

Dipper nearly threw himself at her in terror. "Mabel!"

"Right. My bad."

He heaved a sigh of relief. "Anyway. We think – and trust me, there is plenty of precedence for this stuff around here – you guys had something to do with what happened yesterday. Not bringing the building down, of course! Just... we feel there's some weirdness going on here."

Mabel tacked on a sage nod. "Trust us. We  _know_  weird. If there's something you wanna tell us, don't be scared! It probably won't even be in the top one hundred strangest things we've heard this month."

"I think you two have wild imaginations," Winnie decided, crossing her arms. "What could we have had to do with anything? We were following  _you_  around."

Sue poked her in response to the accusatory tone. "Easy, sister. Let's not have an argument. Another argument."

"I'm not trying to start one."

Dipper shed his cap and set it on the coffee table. "Neither are we. Look. You're uncomfortable here because you're new. I get that. And maybe, just maybe, you're... special. A little different. You said you heard voices in the hospital. Is that it? Can you guys talk to ghosts?"

Mabel chimed in with a grand smile. "We can talk to ghosts too! I mean the ones that possess you and make your brother do the... pffff." A sharp glare from him couldn't stifle the snort. "Sorry, bro. It is literally the best blackmail material of all time."

"Getting back to the point," he grumbled through clenched teeth, "If something's up, there's no need to hide it. We won't talk."

Again, she smiled enormously. "Yeah! Also if you're lying, I'll know. Just a heads up."

The other twins remained silent, apparently feeling the issue out with each other. Mabel and Dipper, knowing this, were just as quiet while Winnie and Sue shared a spectrum of expressions and faint gestures. The red-eyed woman spoke at last. "Maybe it couldn't hurt."

At first, Winnie's face screwed up with disapproval. Eventually, though, her disdain softened. "Being truthful did work once before..."

Sue wrapped her up in a gentle hug. "There's no need to fight them. We have enough to worry about." They nodded at each other. "Okay. Yes. We understood the ghosts."

"Knew it!" Mabel yelled with a fist pump. She wilted under their looks, which ranged from annoyed for Dipper to blank for Winnie. "Oh, sorry. Have you always been able to? Chat with dead folks, I mean." Now the twins' expressions, especially Sue's, punched her right in the heart. "Oh. Uh... sorry. I didn't mean to be... Dipper, you do the talking."

He shook his head. "Good idea. Has it always been like this for you guys?"

Hollowness had set in on Winnie's face. It made them uncomfortable. "Yes. The voices of the dead have been something we've struggled with for... forever." Her brow raised at a series of sympathetic noises and faces from Mabel. Dipper nudged her in the side to stop them.

"The ghosts at the hospital didn't really speak words. Just sounds. We think they were children," Sue added quietly. "Too weak to hurt us. Not too weak to hurt you."

He rubbed his chin, putting the pieces together. "So that's why you guys didn't pass out. But... Winnie, why did you stay behind? Why did the building fall?"

She looked away, slumping back against the couch. "I was trying to talk to it. To find out what happened. As for the building, I don't know. I'm just glad I got out in time."

Mabel had been making fun of her brother's contemplative looks until now. "Huh. This really is a mystery," she chirped. "Let's investigate!"

"Maybe later," he denied. Something in the identical twins' demeanor was uncomfortable, and he thought it best not to push any further. "Can I be blunt for a second? We're really hungry. Which one of you is the cook?" He was stunned when Winnie raised her hand. "Whoa. I didn't see that one coming."

"I'm the best of a bad pair," she clarified with a grin. "Sister, come help me in the kitchen."

Sue was cheerful again. "Okay!" They rose and moved out of the living room, a happy chant of 'breakfast!' following them all the way. Their kitchen was full of spotless appliances – too spotless. Instead of searching the cabinets for ingredients, the twins stood near the stove and stared out the door. Fortunately, the arrangement of the living room prevented the Pines from seeing anything. "Well. How are we going to feed them?"

Winnie crossed her arms. "We can just lie again and say we forgot to buy groceries. Take one of them into town for some fast food. I know the places well enough. Besides, being in a Lamborghini is apparently quite a 'big deal'."

"I guess. So, what? Are we easing them into this?"

"To an extent. There are some things they  _can't_  know." The air grew heavy again. "I agree with you. We have to tread carefully – even if it annoys me. I still need to know what that  _feeling_  is."

Sue's eyes went back to the doorway. The Pines were having an excited conversation about what to eat. "Let's see if they can help. I mean, based on their adventures so far..."

"Right." Her blue eyes narrowed for an instant. "I hope we can find some way to keep them from paying a price for it."


	5. 6-18-1963

"Thank you! Come again! Don't worry about the flies in the creamsicle! Bugs are supposed to be full of protein so they're probably good for you!"

Dipper retched a bit at the thought of the ice cream bar he'd just seen get eaten. The young boy had powered through it with reckless abandon – and based on the surprised look he had while getting dragged out the door, Mabel's goodbye was the first indication of something being amiss. "Uh, I don't think he knew."

Mabel spun unsteadily on the stool, broadcasting her indomitable cheer with a few giggles. "Who cares. We got their money."

His face dropped with surprise. "Wow. You're becoming more like Stan every day, you know that?"

"I do, and I'm not sure how okay I am with it."

"Heh." For a moment he busied himself with arranging hats on the shelves. "Man. I think I might feel sorry for Winnie and Sue."

Mabel stopped spinning and latched onto the counter with both hands. "Huh? Oh yeah! They're like Bruce Willis in that movie. But prettier!"

"Riiiiight. You think they were lying to us about those hospital ghosts? They seemed bothered about it." Deep in thought, he wandered over to the register. "Really bothered." A burgeoning grin from his sister made him blink. "What?"

She hopped off the stool and walked around. "I know that look, Dip. You wanna dig up what happened. Let's do it! I mean, they were nice enough to save our lives, not to mention go buy us breakfast. Giving them some answers about the place is the least we could do."

"Yeah. Yeah!" He stuffed a sudden cloud of dread into the back of his mind and tried to ignore it. "Where would we start?"

Another tremendous smile split Mabel's face. "I bet Google knows!"

"Pfff—you know what, though, that's not a bad idea. Let's head to the library." Pain in his legs stopped him after a few steps. "Ow. Ow. Agh! Forget walking. Let's grab the cart. My calves are _dead_."

Noon had turned the air into invisible soup. Within seconds of exposure, both of them were sweating. Thick clouds to the west promised relief – but they were too dark to just be holding rain. Around the side of the house was the golf cart, parked under a window with Soos examining something in the rear. Upon noticing the Pines he raised up and waved with a wrench in his hand. "'Sup, dudes? You guys look like you're on a mission."

"Yes! A Mystery Twins investigation is happening _right now_!" Mabel confirmed, her words soaked in drama. Nature reinforced her mock seriousness with a puff of wind to lift her hair majestically. "Please tell me that's not broken. We need it to be awesome."

"Nah, just puttin' in a new battery." He wiped his brow with a satisfied sigh. "What's going on this time? UFOs? Bigfoot? Did Gideon bust outta the big house?"

Dipper's face screwed up with the last option. "Don't even joke. We're just doing some, uh, historical research for those new girls."

Soos nodded sagely, staring off into the distance at something neither of the Pines could determine – even by looking themselves. "Oho! The _other_ mysterious twins of Gravity Falls. I've heard things about them. Mysterious things."

Figuring this was another example of the town applying harmless speculation to something, the Pines shared a smile. "Oh yeah? Like what?" Dipper asked, folding his arms.

Suddenly it was the handyman who was melodramatic. "They say that Winnie chick paid for their house with... _gooooooold._ "

His wiggly-fingered, bug-eyed embellishment had little effect. Dipper shook his head. "Dude, you've seen their car. That thing cost more than this house. People that rich probably have precious metals lying around in closets or something."

"And ponies! And butlers. Butler ponies!" Reality quashed Mabel's glee. "Aw, but we didn't see any. Maybe they haven't hired one yet." She eyed Soos expectantly. "Is that all you got? Come on, man. Hit us with the good stuff!"

Soos gave her a shrug and went back to work on the cart, which only entailed shutting the engine cover. "Nope, I'm empty. Wendy says you need a week or so for solid gossip to happen. Like a plant that grows and bears delicious rumor fruit."

Dipper's face went blank as he slipped behind the wheel. "Rumor fruit. Um. Sure. You wanna come along?"

"Alas, no. My healing powers are needed on the roof." He took on a heroic pose, but the wind offered him no assistance. "Worry not, shingles. Soos hears your call."

Mabel gave him a hearty pat on the back before she joined her brother in the cart. "Go get 'em! We'll probably be back before Stan notices we're gone." Her face also went blank. "Uh, wait, that could be days. Just... we'll be home before dinnertime." They returned his wave as Dipper started to drive. "By the way, if the library falls on us I will punch you _directly_ in the face."

"Heh, sorry." Despite his laugh and smile, something visibly gnawed at his soul. His eyes remained straight ahead.

And she jumped it on it the moment she noticed. "Whoa. What's up?" A flurry of pokes was thrown at him – anything to make that expression vanish. "You're freaking me out man!"

"Stop, stop!" he complained, lightly smacking her hand away. "I'm... oh, what's the point of lying. The journal entry about the hospital is bothering me." His next glance revealed Mabel with her hands in her lap and a pleasant smile; this was her classic 'I'm _really_ listening' pose. "You know how most of the entries are really detailed? This one just wasn't. All it had was something terrible happening, the place closing, then vague secondhand reports about ghosts. I don't get it."

Her head cocked. "I wonder why?"

"You got me. I hope we figure out something, though. They deserve an answer."

Imitating him, she grabbed onto the dashboard and glared ahead. "Time to get serious." A few beats passed before she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry bro, I can't do it for more than like eight seconds straight."

With a smile, he rolled his eyes. "I'll handle the serious."

The newest of the public buildings in town, the Gravity Falls Public Library was a jumbled collection of architectural styles. It featured a few sparsely placed columns out front holding up a roof line that was flat as a board and looked totally out of place. As Dipper parked the cart, the sun retreated behind a wall of menacing gray. "Looks like we might be in here for a while," he noted, eyes on the sky as they went up the steps. Something about the atmosphere was tense, but he chalked it up to the approaching weather.

His sister's expression lacked enthusiasm until a thought perked her up. "Bleh. Hey... you think they have books about knitting?"

"I don't know, maybe. Go see. I'll be at the computers." He watched for a moment as she darted off, excited noises trailing her steps. With Mabel gone his worry began to bloom. The sum of what he knew – despite its paucity – made a cold knot form in his stomach. A heavy dose of willpower was necessary to get him over to the computer area and make him sit. "Why am I so nervous? It's just a Google search." Anxious fingers began to poke at the keyboard. "Let's see... 'Gravity Falls General Hospital'."

The results page was topped by stories about the collapse. He expected that, scrolled down, and clicked on through the results. Four pages were yesterday's news. "Gotta be something here. Gotta be... gotta—huh?" One link caught his eye; comprised simply of a date, it stood out like a sore thumb against everything else. "6/18/1963?" Curious, he clicked it and landed on a clearly unfinished website. The font and sparse graphics screamed late 1990s – in fact, the whole thing looked like something Soos would have built. Besides the date, again listed at the top, were the words 'never forget', a lot of pictures of the hospital in a much newer-looking condition, and a black ribbon at the bottom of the page. All of his focus went to deciphering it. "What the heck is-" A sharp jab to the ribs nearly made him faint. "-aaaaaaaahh! What the—Mabel!" he growled, glowering at her as she snickered. "You scared the heck out of me!"

"Hee hee, sorry bro. I can't resist a soft target." She thumbed over to the entrance. "Can we go back and get the truck? I found like four hundred books about sewing and those babies are _all_ coming home with me."

Irritated with the way she had shattered his concentration, he waved at the monitor. "No! No. Look at this."

"What?" Her face screwed up as she processed it. "And you tell _me_ I'm bad at the internet. What is this thing?"

"It's some kind of memorial. All I really got out of it is a date – June 18, 1963. That wasn't even in the journal."

"Wow. It's all black and creepy." Her eyes lit up. "Hey, I saw a bunch of newspapers in a room while I was looking for fun stuff to knock over. I wonder how far back they go."

"Let's find out. Lead the way." Dipper gave chase as she weaved through the shelves. He knew instantly when they had arrived. The air had a different odor. "Wow. This smells like our aunt's house."

"I know, right? What is it with old people and newspapers?" Mabel walked over to one rack and carefully examined a copy of the _Gravity Falls Dispatch_. "I got April 12, 1993."

Dipper went to the one on her left and did the same. "This one's from November 17, 1996. I think we need to go the other way."

Every new rack took them farther back in time, until near the rear of the room they finally found themselves in the 1960s. The light from the single large window on the wall above them receded until the fluorescent tubes in the ceiling were brighter. Distant rumbles filtered through the ceiling. "Ooo! I'm in 1964!" Mabel blurted out suddenly.

He came over to help her rifle through the sheets. "December 1963... almost there." His hands flew about with surprising haste. "August, July... June! What day was the 18th?"

She yielded to his fervor, stepping back with a yawn. "Are you serious? I don't even know what today is."

"Oh. I've been there a few times this week." Wide-eyed, he shuffled on. "The 19th! So that means..." However, the next date he saw was the 17th. Confused, he flipped back and forth a few times. "Uh. It's not here."

"Whaaaa?" Mabel stared at the papers, headed cocked with confusion. "Where is it?"

"No clue, but I don't like it. Come on, maybe the lady at the desk knows something." Dipper was in front this time as they made the trip back. The librarian behind the desk, a youngish woman with long walnut hair and glasses, regarded them with a smile as they approached. "Excuse me, miss? We're looking for a copy of the _Gravity Falls Dispatch_ from June 18th, 1963 but we can't find it on the rack. Was there an edition printed for that day?"

Ghostly changes to her expression occurred, but only Mabel noticed them as they happened. She gave her brother a much gentler nudge as the librarian answered, still smiling, "Yes, but we don't have that date in the archives. I'm sorry." And that was it, besides an equally wooden "Can I help you with anything else?" tacked on a few seconds later.

"Uh, no," Dipper denied, picking up the odd vibes from his sister. "Thanks anyway." He knew something was wrong when she followed him back outside with no resistance. "Now _you're_ freaking me out. What's going on?"

"She knows, bro." Thunder ripped through the air, bouncing off every wall and window on the block, but Mabel stayed her ground. "This is starting to bother me too. What did we miss?"

Terrified by the noise, he only answered her after rising from his defensive, crouched position. "Again, no clue. We need some other source of information. Who do we know that would be old enough to remember 1963?"

"Hrm. Grunkle Stan for sure. Lazy Susan?" She nodded at his skeptical look. "Yeah, never mind. Uh, who else?" Her eyes went up and down the sidewalk until, suddenly, they came to rest on Old Man McGucket. "Hey!" she pointed. "He's super old!"

"Huh?" Dipper rubbed his eyes and groaned after seeing him. "That's not really what I had in mind." It was too late; Mabel was already hopping down the steps in pursuit. "Hey! Wait!"

"Wait a second, old guy!" she yelled after him. "You remember the 60s, right? You've gotta be at least that old."

With a stilted cackle and wave, he turned around. "Are you kiddin'? I'm so old they built this town around me!"

"Perfect! What does June 18th, 1963 mean to you?"

It was like popping a balloon. McGucket wilted with a long, low groan and turned his back to walk away without another word. He was so slumped over his knuckles almost dragged on the concrete.

"Whoa," Dipper murmured, walking over to her. "What was _that_ about?"

For once, she looked just as serious as he did. "Something is effed up, Dipper." The abrupt splattering of a few fat raindrops on the street broke their reverie. "Uh oh. Let's pick this up where it's dry. How fast does the cart go again?"

He looked at the distant trees as they swayed firmly in the wind. "There's no point in trying to drive back now, we'll get soaked regardless." Instead, they hunkered down in the relative safety of the library's covered front entrance to wait. "Hey, you got any quarters? There's a payphone."

"Nope—wait." She patted her skirt pockets. "I do! Winnie gave me her change when we went to McDonald's this morning!"

"Oh." He followed her over to the payphone. "How was the ride, by the way? You never said."

" _Loud_!" Mabel struggled a bit with inserting quarters and dialing the Mystery Shack. "Hello!" she chirped the moment it picked up, interrupting Wendy's attempt to greet her. "Wow. Did you really just answer the phone?"

"Hey! I do _some_ stuff around here, man." The redhead's anger was purely facetious. "What's up? Where'd you guys go this time?"

Mabel shot a glance at Dipper, then looked back at the rainfall. "Oh, nowhere, we're just at the library. Is Grunkle Stan around?"

"Nah, he took a tour group in about five minutes ago. You got the cart? I couldn't find it earlier."

"Yep. Frack. Guess we'll have to go chase a bus and come back for the cart later." With a tiny, curious 'hmm' she added a question. "Say, does June 18th, 1963 mean anything to you?"

"Uh. No." Wendy's tone betrayed otherwise; after a few seconds she seemed to admit its obviousness with a sigh, but kept up the charade. "Nope. Not a thing."

As much as Mabel wanted to explode with a furious 'really?!', she kept her cool for Dipper's sake – and for Wendy's. "I'm suspicious," she replied, adding just a touch of venom.

"Why? I got nothing, man. That was like, fifty years ago."

She put her free hand on her hip and glared daggers. "Fffffffine. Tell Stan we'll be back as soon as it stops raining."

"Okay. See ya."

Dipper watched her hang up and waited for the other half of the conversation to be divulged. He already knew who it was based on Mabel's surprise. "Wendy, right? What just happened?"

"She knows something too. And if she knows, everybody knows." They blankly stared into the downpour for a moment. "Now if only somebody would talk."

"Fat chance of that. You know what they say about small towns." A building on the far end of the street attracted his attention, but it only managed to put a scowl on his face after he realized what it was. "Oh boy. There's the Dusk 2 Dawn."

"Huh, yeah." Mabel stared at it for ages before a light bulb went off. "Heeey... I bet I know _someone_ who'd talk to us."

Dipper's eyes nearly shot out of his head. "Wh—no. Mabel. No. No no no. I am not going back in there!" he countered, hands motioning wildly. "No! What if they possess you again? What if they make me-"

"Welllllllll, who wants a lamby lamby lamby?" she sung, hardly able to manage words due to the giggles. "Come on, bro, it's just a dance. Small price to pay for info."

He crossed his arms and tried to dismiss the embarrassed blush clinging to his cheeks. "I don't care. The only way I'd go in there again is with help. Maybe if Soos were here. Or Grenda. Or Winnie and Sue."

"Yes, if only we were with you!"

The Pines yelped with surprise and whirled to find the identical twins leaning against the wall on the other end of the covered area. Sue was the one who had broken their silence. Both women were dressed in workout clothes – knee-length pants, sneakers, and tank tops that differed in color depending on who wore them. Winnie's outfit was mostly black and blue, while Sue's was mostly red and silver. Gym bags were at their feet. Their hair was wet – from sweat or rain, it was difficult to tell. "Sorry," the red-eyed woman added. "We didn't want to interrupt."

"Oh..." Mabel wheezed, a hand on her chest. "Geez, Dip, is this what I've been doing to you all these years?"

"Yeah. Not much fun, is it." He lead her over to them. "How'd you end up out here?"

Winnie cast a sideways look at her twin. "Exercise. We warmed up with a run, and after we got finished we decided to run back home. We saw you up here and decided to say hello."

Dipper cocked his head in surprise. "Running? In a _thunderstorm_?"

Sue chuckled a little and flexed for good measure. "As if the weather's ever stopped us before. Did you need something?"

Mabel covered Dipper's mouth with her hand to stop him from saying no. "Yeah! We wanna go to the Dusk 2 Dawn to talk to the ghosts about what happened at the hospital 'cause Dipper wanted to know why so he could tell you guys but everybody's being super weird about the whole thing," she explained in one breath, lightly struggling with her brother all the way through to keep him quiet.

Winnie lead her sister toward the steps so they could see the place in question. "Oh. Didn't Wendy say to stay away?"

"Yes! Yes she did!" Dipper yelled, pulling away from Mabel's interference. "Don't pay her any mind! We'll handle this some other way!"

"I want to know," Sue murmured to her twin, eyes locked on the decrepit building.

That was all Winnie needed to hear. "We're in," she said over her shoulder to the Pines. "Hop on our backs. We'll get there faster."

"Are you insane?!" Dipper yelled. Sue hefted him up and gave him no choice to grab on. "I cannot believe this is actually happening."

"Woo! Hi ho, Winnie, away!" Mabel yelled jokingly from her new perch – but then the twins took off down the steps. "Okay uh, wow, you're actually really fast."

She was understating things a little. They tore down the sidewalk at breakneck speed, barreling toward the fence ahead. As with the hospital, razor wire running along the top presented an issue – at least to Dipper. "Oh, great, more barbed wire—whoa! Sue! What the heck?!" The identical twins scaled the fence like spiders, curling and bending over the prickly protection with admirable grace. They dropped down the other side and jogged to the entrance, where the Pines dismounted. Winnie tried the doors and found them unlocked.

"You guys considered trying out for the Olympics?" Mabel asked, grinning wildly as she squeezed water out of her sweater.

"Mmm." Winnie's mind was on other things as she examined the interior. "Where are the ghosts?"

"Dang it, if you're here to rob us I swear..." an angry voice boomed. The spirit of Pa Duskerton swooped down from the ceiling and hovered over them with a disgusted look. "Oh, it's the girly boy. Come to dance for us some more?" He laughed heartily until his wife flew up to float with him. "No. Really. Why are you bothering us again? The blasted weather is bad enough." He glared at the identical twins. "And who are these _teenagers_?"

"Excuse me, but we're twenty-two!" Sue retorted, eyes full of disdain – at least until she smiled. "Thanks for the compliment, though."

"Okay okay okay." Dipper moved to the front of the pack in order to take charge. "Listen, we're sorry to bother you, but-"

"They're dripping all over my floor!" Ma Duskerton interjected, crossing her arms.

"-yes! Yes we are and I promise we'll mop up... uh, ourselves in a minute. We just need to..." Dipper's eyes hardened. "6/18/1963. Something happened. We want to know what. Uh... please. Also please don't make me dance and/or commandeer my sister's body again, if you wouldn't mind."

The Duskertons were in no mood to do either, based on their suddenly gloomy demeanor. They drifted to the floor in a light embrace. "Oh. Oh my," the old lady groaned. "It looks like even death can't separate us from that awful day." Her face screwed up as she eyed Winnie and Sue. "Speaking of... you _smell_ like death, dears."

Winnie's reply was as blunt as a sledgehammer. "Forget about us. You were saying?"

"That was the day old Dr. Seifert was brought up on murder charges," Pa Duskerton explained. "Two hundred some-odd babies died by his hand at the General Hospital. Been doin' it for nearly two decades, or so the district attorney said. He told the town council time after time it was the Northwest factory polluting the river. Causing birth defects. That slime! Who knows how many kids he _really_ killed. Thank goodness they locked him up."

His wife nodded sadly. "Oh yes. A hundred and six consecutive life terms, but it was too late. The 18th of June, my dears, was the day Gravity Falls died."

Stunned silence ruled the air for several moments, broken only in spurts by thunder and the striking of rain on the roof. "I... _wow_ ," Mabel finally sniffled, on the precipice of bursting into tears.

Out of respect, Dipper shed his hat and stared at the floor. "How could they hide something like this for so long?"

Ma Duskerton had the answer. "Hurt too much to talk about. It's a bitter struggle to make pain like that fade. Every time it gets brought up again your hard work is ruined. Folks try to forget. They hope, eventually, the questions will stop getting asked. Just about all they _can_ do," she concluded, giving the young twins a ghostly pat on the shoulder. The older pair, standing behind them, received a quizzical expression. Winnie seemed more resigned than anything. Sue's face was hidden by her hand. "You two must be new. I'm sorry you had to hear this."

"So am I," the blue-eyed woman muttered. "Sister?"

Sue had managed to hide her reaction until her voice gave it away – she was weeping behind her fingers. "Give me a minute."

A deeper silence fell; it had stopped raining. "I think I wanna go home," Mabel decided. "I feel like I just got stomped on. Man." She still had enough sense to give Winnie and Sue a hug. Dipper did the same. "We're so sorry. We were... we were only trying to help."

"We're not mad at you," Sue assured, though her tone didn't inspire much confidence. As she hugged Mabel, tears streamed down her cheeks. They watched as the Pines looked out the front door. "Do you need some help getting back?"

"Allow me." Pa Duskerton hovered over and snapped his fingers. The next gust of wind caused the front gate outside to swing open. "Just lock up when you leave."

"Sure. Thanks." Dipper donned his hat again and opened the door for Mabel. He hesitated when Winnie and Sue didn't follow. "You guys coming?"

Winnie shook her head. "In a minute. You two get home before the weather gets worse."

"All right. See you."

He floated away from the entrance after the kids had gone and regarded Winnie with a curious glance. "You didn't look very surprised, young lady."

"I'm afraid it's something we're used to." Her eyes darted over as Sue drew in a sharp breath. "Are you stuck like the ghosts in the hospital?"

The spirits embraced again and smiled. "Oh no, no," he said. "This store was our pride and joy. We like it here."

"Oh. That's kind of reassuring." Sue wiped her eyes once more and tried to put on a smile. "We apologize for barging in. Thanks for explaining things. We knew they were children but... but not what happened." Her face dropped again. "Sister, how could we repay them?"

"Hmm." Winnie gazed at the disastrous state of the store's interior. "I have an idea."

She picked up on it right away, her eyes emitting a faint glow. "Okay." Both twins leveraged their gift to bring order to the shelves. Items flew about their heads as they walked from aisle to aisle, organizing and replacing and arranging at an inhuman pace. The whole shop was cleaned up in less than five minutes.

"How did you-" Pa Duskerton was silenced by amazement. "I thought only the departed could do that."

"Death is our life," Sue replied with a melancholy smirk. "I don't feel very good either. Let's go home." Winnie nodded and followed her sister to the door.

"Come back anytime!" Ma Duskerton said with a wave, just like she had thousands of times in life. "And welcome to Gravity Falls."

Once free of the store, they hopped the fence, grabbed their bags from the library and ran off through the drizzle. Sue didn't utter a word – she didn't have to. Winnie knew what was tumbling around in her head. Only when they were home and separated from the world did the red-eyed woman finally explode. "Children!" she yelled, motioning with clenched fists. " _Babies_!"

"I know."

"Why would someone do... I can't..." She fell on the couch and hid her face again. "Are we like that man?"

Winnie was by her side in a flash. "We're not even close."

"But we did—we did terrible things, sister. It's all coming back to me again."

The hug got tighter. "It's not coming back. It never leaves." Sue pulled away from her and stood up. "Sister?"

"I'm angry." So angry, in fact, the emotion seemed to be rippling through her muscles. "I'm going to go vent. You can keep the car. I'll just walk."

"All right. The cave?"

Sue nodded once as they went to the door. "Yes. Maybe you're right about punching stuff and putting my fists through the rock will help." The thought of having to fight more of the cave's residents drew a scowl. "I hope the lizards leave me alone. I don't want to accidentally kill another one."

"Try running away this time." Winnie hugged her again and sent her on her way. "I'll see you later." Being left alone with her own thoughts was a revolting proposition, but one she would accept if it would help Sue feel better. The rainfall grew louder as she ruminated on the couch. "The hospital and the store felt the same. Some were stuck, but some stay behind. And they have our powers. But why do we feel that same something at the Mystery Shack... and in that hole?" Linking these sensations made her slightly uncomfortable; there was simply no denying their similarity, however. Her mind frothed with questions. "Forget the vacation. I need _answers_."


	6. Offer Not Valid For Dinosaurs

The day after, and the day after that, dawned as brilliant, sunny things full of relatively cool air. And yet, Dipper and Mabel may as well have been trapped in a permanent cloud. What they'd learned from the Duskterons sat there like a chunk of ice that wouldn't melt, no matter what they tried to do. No amount of books could lift the boy from his dank fog, nor could a full-volume sleepover with Grenda and Candy help Mabel with hers. Wendy had a similar shadow in her eyes – she even admitted to them in private that her anguish was about the same story – but the handyman either didn't know or had known long enough to have some way of dealing with it. Mabel wanted to ask him which it was, but giving the awful truth a voice again was the last thing she wanted to do. Pa had been right: all the Pines wanted to do was forget. Every time they brought it up, the endeavor would fail and threaten to plunge them into an even sadder state.

Thankfully, however, there wouldn't be a choice. Stan had known all along something wasn't right, but lacked the courage to ask questions until the lunchtime tour group was out the door and he found himself in the gift shop with his great niece, great nephew, and the lazy teenager. Thirty-six hours of their awkward behavior was finally too much for him to take. "All right, that's it. Somebody better start talking," he demanded.

The kids looked to to the teenager for help. "Uh..." she whimpered shakily. "I don't know how to put it, man."

"Listen, I might be blind, selfish, and generally cranky, but I'm not dumb. I see the moping." He pointed at the redhead. "I see you doing actual work! Come on, you can talk to me. Really." Their skeptical looks made him squint. "I don't care for your tone. Expression. Whichever."

Dipper, slumped so far over his forehead rested on the counter top, was the one to break the ice. "It's the old hospital. We found out what happened there fifty years ago."

"And it _blows_ ," Mabel added sadly.

The old man became just as downtrodden. "Ooo. Oh. I don't know where to go with this."

"Who does?" Wendy ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Have you been in town the past couple of days? It's tense."

Mabel shuddered. "Creepy forced old people smiles everywhere. Can't take it." She clung to Dipper fiercely. "How could someone _do_ this? I don't understand."

"You don't understand 'cause you're a decent human being." Stan moved away to put the closed sign on the door. "I remember that day. Everybody in Gravity Falls acted like you three for a month afterward. Longer, in some cases."

"How did people get past it?" Dipper asked.

"They didn't. You don't get past stuff like this. It sticks with you forever."

"No! No no no! You're supposed to say it gets better!" Mabel yelled. "I'm gonna cry again oh boy..."

"Mabel's right. I don't get how someone could... forget it. I'm just gonna end up making myself sad again." Wendy sat on the stool and leaned back. Her eyes dropped as the Pines closed on her in a haphazard hug. "Thanks, guys."

"Yeah. We know how you feel," Dipper confirmed. "Everything just... sucks."

Stan frowned as he looked over them. "Eh. You know what? Take the rest of the day off. And a couple more after that. I can't ask you three to work when you're feeling like this."

"And Grunkle Stan's heart grew three sizes that day," Mabel quipped – but her smile was weak at best.

"Don't push your luck, kid," he fired right back, arms crossed and grinning.

"Heh, thanks Mister Pines. Seriously. I'm gonna go home and check on dad." Wendy tossed up a wave and departed.

The Pines family broke up as well. While Stan prepared for another tour, the twins hunkered down in their bedroom. "If we had the time machine we could go fix this," Dipper muttered unhappily, lying on his bed and staring at the mold on the ceiling beams. "Stop the guy from being born or something."

While Mabel shared his ideals, sadness had activated the logical part of her mind. "Yeah, but then the future would be all different. What if people we knew went poof? What if _we_ went poof for some stupid reason?"

"True. Man." He rubbed firmly at his eyes. His thoughts traveled to the other twins, whom they hadn't seen since leaving the Dusk 2 Dawn. "Wonder how Winnie and Sue are handling it. I mean, they talk to ghosts too. Maybe they're... 'used to it' is the wrong thing to say, I guess."

She gasped with horror. "What if the baby ghosts are still talking to them? What if every person that ever died here is talking to them?! Holy moley!" Mabel hopped up and slipped on her sneakers. "Come on, bro. We dragged them into this, we gotta go see if they're okay."

"You've got a point." He nodded and stood. "Been cooped up in here too long anyway. The walk might clear our heads."

Instead of going into Gravity Falls directly, via the highway, they cut through the woods. This back route proved to be considerably harder, but it gave them other things to think about while scrambling through trees and over obstacles. At least, that had been the idea. Dipper noticed his sister lagging behind somewhat; upon going back to check, he found her in tears for the hundredth time in the past couple of days. "Why?!" she gasped. "Why would anyone hurt adorable tiny little..."

"I know. I know." All they could do now was hug. "I'm almost afraid to find out what else this place is hiding."

Frustrated, Mabel pounded his shoulder with a fist. "Which is stupid! I love Gravity Falls, it's all dorky and silly and... but now I'm just like..." She had to pause for a few sniffles. "I'm thinking things I didn't before. And bro, I don't like 'em."

He nodded over her shoulder, almost ready to weep himself. "No kidding," was all the comfort he had to offer.

They pressed on. A winding, noisy creek forced them to take a detour as Dipper looked for some place to ford it. The type of tree surrounding them changed with distance, from firs and cedar to massive redwoods. Mabel recognized the change almost instantly. "Hey, aren't we near the mines?"

"Huh?" His eyes darted about. "Oh, yeah. I guess so." Something stung his brain after a few seconds. "Ew, what is that? Do you smell it?"

She made a show of sniffing the air, her head head tossed back as she stood on her tiptoes. "I don't smell any—oh wow that is terrible what the ick," she replied, her expression changing mid-sentence as the odor filled her nose. "I'd make fun of you for not showering but this junk smells like _death_."

Overcome by curiosity – and against his better judgment – Dipper was already following the scent. "Yeah it does. Come on."

Several minutes of difficult travel lead them away from the creek and deeper into the redwoods. For a while, it was a game of hot or cold as one twin or the other tried to keep track of the awful odor. At last their noses agreed; helped by the wind, they followed it until a small clearing came into view. Scattered across the grass was the mutilated corpse of some massive dinosaur. Its head was entirely gone, and it had been split lengthwise down its body, exposing its ribcage. The rest seemed to be intact, featuring a small pair of arms and powerful, enormous rear legs, with a long tail attached. The brown taint of dried blood covered almost everything, including the nearby tree trunks to a height taller than the Pines. Mabel's first reaction was to run, hand over her mouth. Dipper couldn't make himself move. "What... what the?" he mumbled, flabbergasted by the sight. Only the sound of his sister losing her breakfast could make him turn and walk away. "Mabel? You all right?"

"Do I look all right?!" she snapped, hunched over and sucking air. The pungent smell made her hurl again. This time Dipper held her hair clear and rubbed her back to ease the process. "Th-thanks, bro."

"Let's get out of here." He lead her back toward the creek, pale as a sheet as he tried to resolve what they'd seen. "I'm trying to figure out what could kill a dinosaur like that and, gonna be honest here, all the possibilities make me wanna curl into a ball and cry."

She had other priorities at the moment anyway. A fierce look was on her face as she wiped her mouth with a sleeve. "Forget it, we have to warn the town!"

"They wouldn't believe us, and warn them about what? We don't know what did this."

"Well then, we'll warn the people that know better!" she shot back, grabbing his hand and running. "Come on, Dipper! We gotta move!"

* * *

Mabel hadn't been the only one searching for sanity in the insane. Sue spent hours on the couch with her laptop, trawling the internet for some good reason. Or some reason period. The awful truth was affecting her more than Winnie – or perhaps the blue-eyed woman was just better at hiding her revulsion. "There _has_ to be an explanation for this!" she yelled suddenly, clutching the sides of her head. "It makes no sense! Why would anyone-" Words failed to express her disgust, so groans and growling had to do.

"You realize you might be looking for a why where none exists," Winnie replied gently. "Don't drive yourself crazy."

Sue crossed her arms with a fearsome huff and glared off to the side. "Sister, if we have a why attached to us, anything can."

"...you've got me there." Staring at the floor seemed like a good plan for the next few moments. Sue's demeanor was too much for her to ignore, though. "How bad did it get for you out there?"

"I don't want to talk about this, Winter."

She didn't yield an inch, despite the soft nature of her reply. "I'm listening anyway."

The red-eyed woman turned her back and bared teeth, determined to resist as long as possible. It wasn't long before the memories became too much. She removed the computer from her lap and folded up like an accordion, ending up on her side in a ball. "It was so awful. You can't even begin to imagine."

Winnie lounged against the armrest almost flippantly, but her eyes were deadly serious. "We both know that's a lie."

"Damn it!" Sue uncoiled and stood in one fluid, bitter motion. "I got so good at tricking them into coming with me. 'Oh, I won't hurt you.' And then..." Her palms came together with a tremendous noise. "That was it. The end. Little boys and girls, sister. Just old enough to trust a smiling stranger and too young to know better." Winnie had to hold her up as she began to slump and sob. "There must be some reason he did these things. There was a reason for us. If there isn't... then..."

A hug made her go quiet. "There probably is, but the question is whether or not we want to hear it." Winnie sat her down, never breaking their embrace. "I would attract people by pretending to be drowning. They would swim out to me and be so tired they couldn't escape. Our transgressions are equal. You know that."

"Are his?" Sue asked wearily, pointing at the laptop's screen. "What if he was like us?"

"I sincerely doubt it," she replied, brow furrowing deeply. "And unless we find some way to revive him, we'll never find out regardless. But what he did does raise questions about the... feeling."

This was something they could face together, and for that Sue was glad. She pulled away, retrieved her laptop, and tried to settle her nerves. "Oh, yes. What could have happened at the Mystery Shack for such a cloud to hang over it?"

"At least those sensations are not quite the same. That's something to be hopeful for." Winnie stared through the bay window and frowned at the beautiful day beyond. "And it's not just there. There are little puffs of it all over."

"Right. Not from the living people though. Which is so _weird_."

Her brow furrowed again, this time in thought. "Either the town is full of ghosts, or something else is going on here."

Sue's breaths were slow and even as she continued to fight the anguish in her heart. "Mhm. I want to know too, but we need to tread carefully. Look at what's already been discovered in our name."

"Mmm." Winnie took up her own laptop and started to browse. "I'm surprised Dipper and Mabel haven't been by to see us. I wonder why?" A heavy knock at the front door prevented any answers. Her first instinct was to open it at range as usual, but she caught herself with a low grumble. After answering it the normal way, she found the Pines twins and Wendy standing on the porch. Past them was a brown truck, which suddenly drove away down the street. She got a glance of a man with a baseball cap inside before it left, then turned her attention to Mabel and Dipper. "We were just talking about you two," she greeted, just as the red-faced, panicked looks on their faces could register. "Is something wrong?"

"Dinosaur killer!" Mabel wheezed, hands on her knees as she gasped for air. "No idea what happened. Gotta be on the look out for a... I dunno, a thing that looks like it could murder a dinosaur."

All she could manage in reply was a confused "What?" as Sue came up to see what was going on. "I'm a little lost here."

"Join the club!" Wendy exclaimed. "There are freakin' _dinosaurs_ in the old mine?" Her hands flew up in dumbfounded disgust. "This town, man. I don't know what to think anymore."

"Did you actually see the dinosaur?" Sue asked, almost timidly.

"Yeah! We did!" Dipper gasped. "Man, I am not built for running in the woods like that."

Mabel forced herself past the twins to find cool air. Her brother and Wendy followed, nearly tripping over her as she sat down to recover. "We got two possibilities here," she began gravely. "One: a bigger dinosaur killed that dinosaur and now we've got Jurassic Park: Gravity Falls happening. Two: I dunno what two could be but it's scary as heck to think about."

"I went with aliens," her brother advised breathlessly.

Wendy was thinking in a different direction. "Coulda been Octavia." Her eyes lit up. "Oh yeah, stay away from the mud flap factory. And don't _ever_ drink the water from that stream that runs by it, either."

"We'll... keep that in mind?" Sue looked up as Soos opened the door. "We've got a party going on now."

His eyes lit up too, but unlike Wendy his expression was full of glee. "Wait, did somebody say party? Dude! Lemme go get my DJ guide!"

"Soos, no. She's kidding." Dipper had recovered enough to stand up straight. "Oh yeah, this is Soos. He's kinda like the Mystery Shack fixer handy dude."

"What's up?" he chirped, waving happily. "Nice place. And ride." He examined the twins for a seconds, his face screwing up. "Man. You guys work out?"

Winnie, arms crossed, nodded idly. "Yes, we do. Nice to meet you." She watched as he, the Pines, and Wendy occupied their sofa. "Tired?"

"Little bit," the girl whined, rubbing herself from knees to ankles. "Ohhhhhh I hate rocks."

The redhead chuckled faintly. "I had to carry her back to the road. Was worth it, though. I got to post a pic of a headless dinosaur on Twitter. I should get a ton of retweets."

"That's nice and all, but we need to figure out what's going on," Dipper pointed out while slipping on his hat. "Octavia might have eight legs and laser eyes, but I doubt she could do all the stuff we saw." Mabel began to squeal beside him and wave her arms. "No,. Not only is your idea terrible, it's not even right of us to bring it up. No." He yelped as she smacked the back of his head. "Geez! Fine! Ask!"

Her arms shot up in celebration. "Woo! I was thinking you two could talk to the ghost of the dinosaur and ask it what happened! Brilliant, right? I know. Hold your applause."

 _E_ _veryone's_ faces went blank. Winnie and Sue stared at each other for a few moments, unsure if they'd heard her correctly. "You want us to what?" the red-eyed woman finally asked.

Mabel glared and folded her arms. "Talk to the dino-ghost! Come on, girls. You heard me. Let's do this."

Wendy needed more clarification, and so raised her hand. "Hold it, you guys talk to ghosts?"

Genuine annoyance was seeping onto Winnie's face. With a sigh, she hid her eyes. "Yes, we talk to ghosts. Thank you for not telling anyone, Mabel."

"Pff, thank me later after we've saved Gravity Falls from certain... uh. Huh." Her head tilted. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, balls! I messed up!"

"Told you," Dipper stated with a smile, only to get another smack for his effort. "Ow!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, are you the new Gideon?" Soos interjected with a glare – or at least what passed as a glare for him. "'Cause we're gonna have to fight if you try to steal any deeds or shrink me. Or shrink the deeds and steal me. Wait, no, that kinda sounds like I'm hitting on you. Never mind."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Moving on, we were coming up here anyway to check on you two. How you holding up since the... you know, got out?" Their deeply crestfallen looks said it all. "Oh, man. I was afraid of that." His face screwed up when he glanced over at Soos, who looked exactly the same. "You already knew? We were scared of telling you 'cause it's depressing as heck."

He dropped his head, replying mournfully, "Mister Pines mentioned it after the building fell down. You all have my sympathies." He perked up a bit upon receiving some hugs from Mabel.

"Hey!" she shouted, standing up just as soon as she was done reassuring the handyman. "So what if my idea is stupid? At least we'd be outside and doing _something_ besides turbo-moping until we cry to death. What do you say?"

"I'm in," Wendy sighed. "Can't really have some death beast roaming the forest. Might hurt my family, ya know." A wry smile crept onto her face. "Besides, more chances to take pictures I can sell."

"Oh, fine. If only to satisfy you," Dipper grumbled, arms crossed in mock distaste.

Soos rubbed his hands together excitedly. "It's like a murder mystery. You bet your life I'm on board!"

The identical twins shared one more look of disbelief before Winnie relented. "Fine, I suppose it can't hurt."

Chanting 'dinosaur' and cheering with various degrees of joy, the Mystery Shack detachment walked out the front door. The two women didn't immediately follow, however. "I bet they would be surprised if they knew what really happened," Sue said lowly.

Winnie couldn't help but smile as she slid on a pair of black thong sandals with turquoise trim. "I've no doubt about that. How did you even get it out of the mine?"

"Ah, sister," the red-eyed woman teased, wagging her finger. "We both know a little magic goes a long way. I was a little angrier than I thought. I needed space to fight."

She rolled her eyes on the way to the door. "Right. How long are we going to keep up this lie?"

Sue's smile died in a flash. "As long as we can, I guess. If they knew everything, the only way we'd be greeted in Gravity Falls is with bullets."

* * *

Soos lead everyone through the woods, humming a little tune with spoken words randomly thrown in. The rotting odor again served as a guidepost, but Winnie and Sue were focused on another sense entirely – the unquantifiable _thing_ hovering over the town, which they noticed was now clustered mostly behind them and to their left. They even knew where the Mystery Shack was, thanks to the distinct pitch of its spark.

"Watch these rocks," Dipper advised, pointing up ahead. "Mabel nearly broke her leg." When they reached them, the girl gave one an angry kick. "How can you hold a grudge against an inanimate object?"

"It tried to kill me!" she yelled furiously. Only when her rage was spent – which meant more kicking – did she scramble over the formation.

Before long the clearing and its awful contents came into view. Overpowering was the best way to describe the smell. "I'm just gonna wait over here," Mabel squeaked, on the edge of retching again. She wasn't the only one reluctant to approach.

"Uh, you're up," Wendy said, waving at the identical twins and fanning the air away from her nose. "Do the... ghost thing? I guess? I don't even know."

Winnie nodded and lead her sister into the clearing. "This should be fun," she murmured, once they had enough distance to ensure privacy. "We'd better think up a good story."

Sue's mind was elsewhere. It was the first time she'd seen her handiwork in full daylight. The extent of her violence was breathtaking. "I can't believe I managed to tear its head off with my hands," she whispered. "I don't actually remember where it ended up. I think I threw it."

Blinking with the revelation, Winnie moved to the rear of the carcass so they'd be out of sight. "Just how mad were you?"

"I couldn't see straight." She poked at the base of the creature's tail with her shoe and blinked. "You're always so calm. I wish you'd teach me."

"No teaching necessary, sister. I _know_ what happens when I lose control. That's enough of a deterrent for me." At her urging, they began to move back toward the others, albeit slowly. "Fib time. Let's brainstorm."

"Okay. Um..." Her ruby eyes rolled about in thought. "At least we know dinosaurs don't have 'ghosts'. I don't feel a thing. I kind of doubt there's an animal alive here that could kill one of these things, either. I've got nothing."

"They're expecting us to be spirit whisperers. If we come up empty, what happens then?" Winnie ran a hand over her hair and scowled. "We're in a hole."

Sue wilted, pawing at her face. "I'm sorry. The best I have is 'we don't know'. Then we can pretend to be in the same boat with everyone else."

"All right. Let's go."

An expectant smile from Mabel as they walked up almost undid Sue, but she stuck to the script. "Sorry. No ghosts to talk to here. We're not sure what happened."

"Told you, again." Dipper braced for another attack, but his sister was too ill to launch one. "You're about as green as the Hulk."

"Blaaaaargh," she moaned in response, partially doubled over. "Uh oh. Dry heaving."

Wendy and Soos' faces screwed up at the noises she made next. "Dude, we'd better get outta here before hambone blows chunks again."

They traversed the forest, going past Mabel's rocky nemesis and to the dirt road where the truck was parked. "Thanks for letting us drag you along," Dipper smiled, tipping his hat. "I'm too tired to be sad. I guess something went right."

"Yep," the redhead agreed. "Dang, man, seven thousand retweets!" She put her phone away with a smirk.

The boy nodded up at her. "I guess we should be heading home ourselves. Mabel probably needs to rehydrate."

"Nothing... left... to puke..." she moaned dramatically.

Soos patted her head gently. "Please don't lose it in the truck, dude."

"No promises."

"Before you run off, take this." Winnie produced a notepad and pen from her jeans pocket, scribbled something down, and handed the sheet to Dipper. "My phone number. Now you won't have to walk so much."

Dipper glanced over it and smiled. "Thanks. You sure you don't want a ride?"

Sue ran in place with a huge grin. "It's okay, we'll run back."

Goodbyes were exchanged. The twins watched the truck drive away until it disappeared beyond a curve. "I thought that went well," Winnie affirmed, once more smoothing back her hair.

"Yes! Still doesn't answer our questions, though." A glint in the sky drew her gaze. A jet was flying high overhead. "What an odd place this is."

"Yes. But at least the people are nice." Off they went, jogging down the path. Except for the wind rustling the branches above, the woods were incredibly quiet. A few minutes of running still hadn't gotten them clear of the forest, and for some reason Sue was beginning to lag behind. "What's the matter?"

Certainly wasn't exertion. She hadn't even broken a sweat. Some strange mixture of confusion and anxiety was on her face. "Do you get the feeling someone's watching us in here?"

Winnie's eyes darted about, landing on tree trunks and bushes. "Not really, why?"

"Not sure. Just a... hmm." Sue peeked back over her shoulder at the woods. "I'm beginning to get as curious as you are. What is Gravity Falls _hiding_ from us?"


	7. We are Not Alone

For three days Sue continued to search for answers about Dr. Seifert with Winnie's help, but information was scarce. They didn't dare peel at the fragile band-aid Gravity Falls had put on by poking around and asking people. Whatever the internet offered them was all they got. From this, they knew the man had died seven years ago in prison, but not even the authorities had a full picture of the extent of his crimes.

It left Sue wanting. "Maybe he was just... evil."

Her twin was faring little better, slumped back against the sofa with her eyes hidden. "Thinking about it is exhausting. I want to know why the Mystery Shack feels so similar."

"Hmm. We can't just come out and ask."

Winnie dropped her hand and sighed. "I know. I'm surprised they haven't called us. It's been a while."

"Let them have their space." Sue was now browsing the news – which only succeeded in making her feel even worse. "What awful stories," she pointed out, closing her laptop. "At least we're not across the sea. We'd be getting shot at."

Winnie issued a single nod. "Right. I know about war, but I'd rather you didn't – so we'd better be careful in keeping the peace around _these_ parts while we find out what's going on."

An amused smirk appeared at Winnie's phrasing. "'Around these parts'. Which is what I've been saying all along." Someone's smartphone was ringing; Sue reacted first, raising her hand and allowing it to zip through the air into her open palm. "Hello?"

"Hey! Uh... Sue. I think. Please tell me you're Sue." It was Dipper, and based on his voice the extra days between him and learning the truth about the old hospital seemed to have helped.

"You got it," she confirmed. "Thought you'd forgotten about us."

"Ha! Nah, we've just been busy helping Grunkle Stan prepare for the... I don't know what he's calling it. Some kind of party. I think he might be serious about the free admission this time."

Sue had quietly put him on speaker so Winnie could hear. They shared a curious look. "Is this an invitation?" the blue-eyed woman asked, an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Whoa, hey. Kinda, I mean, we haven't seen you around in a couple of days. Neither has anybody else."

Mabel, from what seemed like Dipper's immediate vicinity, chimed in at full volume. "Yeah, where the heck have you been?"

"Thanks. Now I'm deaf. Any—hey! Give me those chips!" The dulcet tones of sibling combat poured into their living room for a few moments. "You're just as much a pig as Waddles is! That was supposed to be my bag!"

"What did you call me?! _I will cut you, boy_! _"_

"Aaaaaah!"

Their faces screwed up again as they were treated to an encore of Dipper and Mabel bickering. "I'm glad we don't fight," Sue sighed with an eye roll.

Winnie's head tilted at the sounds. "Mm. We're theoretically more mature than that.

A victorious Mabel continued the phone call. "Don't pout at me. There are some things you just don't say to a girl." She drew a breath and took on a much happier tone. "Dipstick also wanted to let you know he got the journal back! Wanna read about some flowers that sing opera?"

Now they had the twins' interest. "Hmm," Winnie mused, rubbing her chin. "I certainly would."

"Cool. We'll make sure you get in without any Stan harassment. And please drive. I need money for yarn so I'm thinking I could charge people to sit in your car and get their picture taken."

That was too much for Dipper to take. "Geez! I'm gonna start calling you Grunkle Mabel!"

"Excuse me, do you think these awesome sweaters grow on trees?" A pregnant pause was next. "...can I look at the journal? I wanna see if there's a sweater tree."

"No! Last time I let you we ended up with the truth teeth!"

"Could we come over now? Before the crowd arrives," Winnie butted in, hoping to stop a third round of fighting.

"Of course. Just, uh, expect to get drafted for party prep if you do," Dipper advised.

"And bring your car!" Mabel yelled in addition.

"All right. We're on our way."

"Bye!" Sue added before hanging up. "Looks like you're about to get your wish."

Winnie had already summoned her sneakers in the same way Sue had the phone. She slipped them on and started toward the door. "Oh, yes." They emerged into a gorgeous, sunny day, where the sky was full of cheerful white cotton balls. "Do you want some earplugs?" she inquired as they entered the Lamborghini, a wry smile on her face.

Sue returned her sarcasm with a half-smirk. "Shut up and drive, sister."

* * *

They arrived roughly twenty minutes later. Winnie decided to park right out front, where Wendy and Dipper were struggling to hang up some sort of lights above one of the porches.

"Hey," the redhead greeted as they emerged from the car. "Where ya been hidin'?"

"Oh, lounging around and sleeping off the funk," Sue smiled brightly. "Seen anymore dead dinosaurs?"

Wendy's face screwed up. "Nah, thank goodness. I heard they found the head of the one we saw up on Route 33, though."

Dipper, on a ladder and fighting a tangle of cabling, added, "We decided to just take their word for it." He fought on with it, nearly falling off once or twice. "This stuff is worse than Christmas lights!"

"Dude, don't pull! You're just gonna make it tighter." Wendy flashed a hopeful smile as the twins came over. "Could you give us a hand? Mabel and Soos are inside dealin' with the food and stuff. Hope Waddles doesn't eat it all before the party starts."

Grumpiness had already tainted Winnie's expression, thanks to the pervasive sensation that clung to everything in sight. Sue didn't appear to be far behind; both women, however, set aside the burden and put on a happier face. "I suppose," the blue-eyed woman replied. "What do we do?"

"Just hang 'em along the edge of the tin," Dipper instructed, coming down the ladder. He tossed the hopeless bundle to Sue. "Good luck with that." Wendy took up a position by their sports car to watch, which is where he moved to stand as well.

"Ooo, a puzzle." A puzzle at which she immediately and subtly cheated, using her power to trace one end's path through the Gordian knot. While her fingers made a show of untangling, it was her gift that actually did the work. "Finished!" she exclaimed happily, holding it above her head.

"You have got to be kidding me!" a stunned Dipper yelled.

Winnie was already up on the ladder, where she found the nails and hammer the boy had left behind. "That hole is driving me crazy," she grumbled to Sue, figuring there was enough distance to keep the discussion private.

With fluid motions, she fed the strand up so Winnie could nail it to the siding. "Same. What could be going on down there?"

"I don't know, but I have an idea about finding out."

"Oh?" Sue watched her tap the nails into place. "How?"

"In a minute."

Dipper and Wendy approached as she finished up, eying her handiwork. "Nice," the redhead approved. "You wanna do the rest?" Her smile said she was joking, but he urged them via a series of frantic nods and hand gestures to take her up on it.

"We kind of want to go inside," Sue denied gently, a nervous grin on her face.

"...crap," Dipper groaned. "I guess I'll move the ladder. We'll be inside in a minute. I hope. Probably not."

Wendy gave him a pat on the back. "Can't win 'em all. I'll climb up this time."

The Shack offered little relief from the penetrating sting of whatever leaked from the pit, but at least the twins were now alone in the gift shop. Winnie stared at Dipper through the windows until he'd gone out of sight. "We're going to wait until the party's distracted everyone," she stated lowly. "Then we're jumping in that pit."

"Hmm. Okay." Sue beat on the side of her head with the heel of her hand. "Ungh. My brain is starting to hurt. Can we really stay here that long?"

The blue-eyed woman stared at her palms. "We have protection. As long as no one sees us use it." With that out of the way, finding Mabel was their next priority. A check in the living room yielded nothing; the kitchen was equally empty. Before long they realized they were wandering through a layout that made at least one of them suspicious.

"The outside of this place does _not_ fit the inside," Sue determined as they entered the museum area. "It's so big in here. I don't understand."

She was already annoyed enough, but laying eyes on the 'Invisible Man' – string and all – made Winnie glower. "So this is what passes as a museum? Come on, let's go the other way."

At last they stumbled upon a large room with a floor made mostly of enormous, polished checkerboard tile. Mabel and Soos were fussing around a long table dotted with cups, forks, plates, and a large glass bowl.

"What if we put Pitt in the punch?" he asked thoughtfully. "Nobody expects fizzy punch."

"No, no, it'd go flat. You wanna drink flat Pitt, even if it is hidden by punchy goodness?" He shook his head quickly. "Thought so. Keep thinking." Mabel had a list in her hand, boldly titled 'ideas for the best punch in history ever'. "Wait! Jalapeno peppers! A punch with kick!" She attempted a roundhouse for emphasis and nearly fell over. Her spin left her facing the identical twins. "Hey!"

"Hello – and I like peppers," Winnie greeted quietly. A hug from the girl served to take the edge off the invisible prodding from outside. "Nice to see you."

Soos offered a smile and wave. "'Sup, dudes? Wanna help us with the punch?"

Sue laughed a little while shaking her head. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"Dang. Back to the drawing board." Mabel stepped away with a deeply thoughtful look, which burst like a bubble as she realized why they might really be here. "Lookin' for the journal? Ask Dip, he's outside somewhere."

"We saw him." But the awful vapor coming from the pit had caused Winnie to forget to ask about it. She knew then that something was seriously wrong. "...hmm."

Soos cocked an eyebrow at her expression. "You all right? Seem kinda tense. I got some really mellow music you could listen to. You know. Chill beats."

Mabel thought she had the answer. Her demeanor grew timid. "A-are you still mad at me for blurting out your secrets?"

Winnie did her absolute best to put on a smile, though she knew it probably still looked strained. "No, it's okay. Unless you told someone else."

The girl shook her head violently. "Nope. Wendy and Soos are cool, I promise."

"Sister," Sue mumbled, elbowing her gently in the side. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Oh. All right. We'll be right back."

The side entrance took them dangerously close to the object of their misery. Fortunately, they could hear Dipper and Wendy talking from the other side of the building. Sue beckoned her sister to follow and walked toward the woods. "We're not going to last until tonight."

"I know. It's much more volatile than what we felt in the hospital." Winnie came to a halt and leaned on a tree trunk. "What do you think we should do?"

She stared toward the sign marking the pit, just barely visible through the cedars. "Jump in. We definitely do not want to get agitated. Maybe we can find out what's going on and stop it."

"What if jumping in makes it worse?"

The red-eyed woman could produce no rebuttal. "Eh. Good point." They stared at the sign again until her face brightened with an idea. "What if I go alone?"

" _Absolutely not_ , _Summer_."

Winnie's tone was so potent, so forceful, even Sue had to wince with fear – but she still had the courage to press on. "If something bad happens, you can stop me. You're strong enough. If we're both down there and it goes wrong... who's going to stop _us_?"

Sue had never seen a look so vulnerable – and at the same time breathtakingly intense – on her sister's face before. "I'd rather burn this planet to cinders than even consider hurting you." Silence made her look up. "Do you feel the same?"

Her idea was dying with every passing second. Part of her tried to brush it off by saying it was stupid anyway, but the truth lay elsewhere. Hurting Winnie was a concept she found equally repulsive. "You know I do." Back to the pit she looked, teeth lightly clenched. "I am so anxious. You're antsy again. We need an answer."

"Yes, we do." They crept back toward the edge of the trees, peering around for any sign of Dipper or Wendy. Faint echoes of a conversation indicated they were still on the other side of the house. "Come on."

"Now? Why are you in such a hu-" Her mouth shut abruptly. Sue already knew why; the same anxiety pulled at her nerves. "The pit. It's calling to us."

Winnie smiled widely – the word had been on the tip of her tongue ever since she had arrived in Gravity Falls. "Exactly. Let's answer."

They dashed through the clearing toward the pit, though the energy pouring from it stabbed harder with every step. While they meant to jump in, they were robbed of their motor skills by sheer sensory overload when they reached the edge, and so fell awkwardly into it instead. Once they were underground, however, the sensation mostly vanished.

"What happened?" Sue called over the noise of the wind. "Why is it so quiet?" And not just quiet. This was like falling through ink; the only way they knew there was anything around them were the echoes of her words.

"I don't know. Hold on." Winnie reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her phone to light the way. She swept it around and found normal soil made up the walls, which soon became bedrock. "Let's slow down and get our bearings." Instead of falling in a skydiving position, she rotated to a feet-first one, pointed her palms downward, and began to slow. The phone, floating along near her head, matched the reduction in speed until both came to a stop. Sue, on her right, was hovering in a similar fashion. "Do you feel a push on your shoes?"

"A little?" The red-eyed woman fluttered over to the rock and pressed her hands on it. She called off her power and relaxed until she was hanging freely. "Now I definitely feel it." She smiled as Winnie latched to the rock beside her. "Cold, down here, huh?"

She rolled her eyes a bit and smirked. "As if the temperature ever bothered us."

They scaled the endless face, occasionally looking back up to see how tiny the spot of sky that marked their entrance had become. After about ten minutes of descent – according to the phone, at least – it vanished altogether. The farther down they went, the firmer the push became. Soon it was joined by wind that whipped Sue's hair around; instinctively they grabbed the rock with their fingertips, but there was no need. Their palms were fully adhered. "I feel like I want to fall up," she noted. Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Sister! Sparks! Actual, genuine sparks! Below us!"

Winnie nodded in confirmation. "Weak ones, but... a _lot_ of them. Let's drop and see what happens."

Once more they fell like bricks through the abyss, however this time they used their power to _accelerate_ their descent. An almost equal shove against their travel appeared in seconds, but they had the force to overwhelm it and keep going until their shoes touched down on the rocky bottom of the pit. Scattered around them was trash of all sorts, including a broken box full of letters. Sue walked around the circular area, staring straight up into the darkness. Unlike the lights in the hospital, she understood these invisible voices perfectly. "They're trying to help us up!"

"I believe we've found out why Dipper and Mabel think this pit is bottomless." Enough air was blowing now to make even Winnie's slicked down locks move a bit. "Relax. We understand you. We're alright. We can fly."

The unseen sparks coalesced into a huge rainbow bubble of light, so big it was forced to bounce awkwardly against the rock walls. A tidal wave of soundless questions bombarded the twins' ears. "Okay, okay, one at a time," Sue shouted, hands raised for silence. "Oh, my brain. Seems a lot like home. Huh? We feel like you? Well, you feel like us. Trust me, we're just as confused as you are."

Winnie, arms crossed, took over the conversation. "What are you doing down here?" Her eyebrow cocked. "Trying to go home? I don't understand." She watched the bubble bounce against a certain spot on the rock over and over. "Through there? You can't dig?" Again, it bounced weakly off the stone. "I see. You don't have the strength." Face screwed up in thought, she went over to the spot and drove a fist against it. Cracks raced out and away from her knuckles, but it was the vibrations that attracted her interest. "I don't think this is just rock."

Sue was contemplating something else. "Sister, wait. If they're like us, how did _they_ get here?"

"I..." Her face dropped before she looked back up at the rainbow blob. "That's a good point. How did you get here?" As it spoke, she cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean this is the way you came in?"

"There's nothing around here but the Mystery Shack." Sue stepped back as the bubble started to gyrate frantically. "That's how you got here? Why can't you just go back that way, then?" Its fluctuations slowed to an odd, rhythmic wobble. "You can't remember how, only that you came from underneath it. Okay."

"What in the world could be under it?" Winnie asked, brow furrowed powerfully. "Ugh, as usual I ask questions and only get more questions."

The bubble was increasing in size from the top down as more sparks joined. "Hey, you're the screamers from the surface," Sue realized. "So that's why we felt you from so far. You really were calling out to us."

"Because we have the same signature and there's hardly any interference. They knew we had come to Gravity Falls and assumed we knew of a way back." Winnie moved closer and poked the blob with a slender finger. "We do, but maybe the way you got here is simpler. Let's try that first." She cracked her knuckles a few times and looked over toward the rock. "I suppose we need to start digging."

Sue denied her with a few points upward. "Later. The kids are going to get suspicious."

"True." Winnie switched to patting the iridescent blob. "We'll help you, but we might need some time. Would you give us a boost back up?"

With a final wobble, the colorful clump broke up and became invisible again. The twins suddenly felt what seemed like thousands of small hands pushing on their bodies, lifting them off the floor and into the abyss. With an assist from their own might, they rocketed up the pit at breakneck speed. "We have to talk to Stan!" Sue shouted.

"You ain't kidding!"

She couldn't stop a giggle. "Pff... ain't."

Ahead of them the small swatch of sky reappeared, then gained size at a remarkable pace. They stopped applying force and let the pit's own power push them the rest of the way, where they were spat out into the air as if bouncing off a trampoline. Winnie came down in a crouch on the grass, while her sister executed a series of somersaults and stuck the landing, arms out and grinning like a gymnast.

"Wow. 9.5!"

They looked over to see Mabel, Dipper, Soos, and Wendy, who applauded as Sue took a little bow. "Yeah, 9.5 seems about right," he added playfully. "Enjoy the pit?"

Winnie shrugged at him. "It was..." Silence derailed her train of thought. No more shrieking angst. No more beckoning. Only the rustling of the leaves and a much duller spark, fluctuating in intensity and coming directly from the house itself. She cocked a brow. "Enlightening."

"I'd ask how you jumped out of there," Wendy smiled lowly, "but at the rate this week's been goin' I think I'll keep my mouth shut."

"We'll explain later," Soos advised. "It's a pretty funny story."

She smirked up at him. "Neat. I could use a laugh. You wanna help me with the signage?"

"I get to use a hammer? Don't have to ask me twice!" They walked away toward the rear of the house.

Mabel giggled. "Poor Wendy. She's been run through the wringer." She giggled again at Dipper's hasty, lovestruck agreement – then loaded up a scold for the other twins. "We were kinda worried! Nearly called the police. You gotta be _desperate_ to call the police around here," she groaned.

"Yeeeaaaah, I wouldn't call the sheriff, uh... effective," Dipper agreed. "Hey, Grunkle Stan called. When I told him you were here he asked if you'd pick up the food tab." He expected their stunned looks and shrugged. "Yeah. I know. He's actually, factually serious. How badly do you want me to tell him off?"

The twins shared an annoyed glance while trying to determine if now was the time to hammer the old man with their new questions. Sue shook her head a few times and smiled. "Let him down easy," Winnie decided.

"I'll do it. I gotta go make sure Waddles isn't pigging out." Mabel snickered to herself while walking back toward the door. "Hee. Pigging out."

Her brother watched her go for a moment before turning back to the twins. "Welp. You guys up for working your light string magic again? There's a bundle as big as Wendy. Totally serious."

The twins glanced around, enjoying the quiet for a moment. As such, they were in much better moods. "Oh," Winnie mused. "I don't see why not."

* * *

Professing a need to change clothes, Winnie and Sue had driven home about half an hour before the festivities were due to start. A few people had already shown up when they left. The real reason they departed was to get a new ethereal survey of the area without the magical shrieking from the pit casting a cloud. Their hilltop vantage point offered a vast perspective.

"It's amazing how much we can detect without any background noise," Sue noted, sipping from her mug as they stood on the front porch. "Doesn't it feel like there's something missing, though?"

"Yes." Winnie had her eyes trained on the one completely dark spot in an otherwise well-lit grid of streets: the Dusk 2 Dawn. "Why is there nothing where we _know_ ghosts exist?"

"Hold on." After looking around for witnesses, Sue let her mug float. "We only felt the thing in the hospital after we got really close. If the stone was preventing us from detecting the power trapped in the pit, could the concrete have done the same thing?"

"Hmm. Possibly. It was weak enough, for sure. It wouldn't have needed much help to hide." Winnie paced a bit, arms crossed and staring at her sneakers. "If those were wisps of power we freed, that means they've been there for half a century. How did they get there? Why did they sound like children?"

Sue snatched her mug out of the air and groaned heavily. "Now I know how you feel. Every question splits into two or three. Like... what are they called? Amoeba."

Winnie glanced at her imposing black and silver wristwatch and blinked. "Mm, yes. We'd better get ready for the party, I suppose."

Their outfits didn't change much. Sue went with a deep red dress and heels, topped off by a glittering silver brooch shaped like a bird of some sort that clung to her right shoulder. Winnie, seeing no need for fanciness, simply changed into black jeans, kept her sneakers, and finished with a long-sleeved, light blue tee. Her sister's disapproval was almost palpable as they returned to the car. "Sister, wear a skirt for once. I tried it. You can try it too."

"No. I'm too used to pants," she replied while firing the engine. "Besides, I want to blend in. You know I don't get along well with... social functions."

Sue dismissed her concerns with a dainty wave – an odd motion coming from a woman that looked anything _but_ dainty. "Oh, it'll be fine. I'll be there."

The Lamborghini shot through the evening like a bullet. In ten minutes of spirited driving they were back at the Mystery Shack – and there was a crowd, lined up in front of a table with a sign above it that proclaimed 'Get your picture taken in a car worth more than you!' and '$1' under the sentence. It was clearly Mabel's handwriting. In fact, she was sitting at the table taking bills. "Okay folks, single file!" they heard her yell as they got out of the vehicle. "That's it! Plenty of time. Oh, uh, hi girls!"

"You are..." Winnie's vocabulary failed. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. "Something."

The girl just shrugged and beamed at them. "Hey, mommy needs some new knitting needles. Also I kinda owe Dipper a few bags of chips. Like... seven. Or so."

"Uh huh. They are _not_ sitting in my car, Mabel," Winnie warned her firmly as they walked past to go inside.

Mabel swallowed at her tone and quickly relented. "Whoa! Okay! Uh... well... dang it, I'm already in the hole enough with them. All right, new plan, everybody! Get your picture taken standing appropriately close to a car that's worth more than you! Any takers?" The volume of money coming her way didn't decrease. "Sweet. Waddles, you're gonna be my piggy bank for a – piggy bank! I kill me – for a little while, okay?"

Dipper met the twins just as soon as they'd closed the door behind them. "Hey! Welcome back. And I am so incredibly sorry." He motioned out the window to the crowd. "She's beginning to discover capitalism. I pray for us all."

"Perhaps I should get a less conspicuous vehicle, then," Winnie muttered unhappily. Sue's bright smile only made her glare. "Stop it. Just... stop."

"Yeah, it's the second biggest attraction in town behind this place. I dunno whether that's a bigger insult to Gravity Falls or to Lamborghini. Eh. Anyway, if you wanna see the journal, let me know. I'll be upstairs." He tipped his cap and departed.

They wandered into the floor room, where Wendy greeted them with a wave and smile, but no words due to the _interesting_ music Soos was playing. The place was fairly packed. A lot of the other guests were people they had only seen in passing. Sue realized there weren't just people moving about once she got used to the flashing lights. "Sister...?"

"I know. I see them."

For some time, they disregarded it and tried to act natural by saying hello to people that came up to introduce themselves, milling about, stealing slices of pizza. Manly Dan was the final straw. "Dan Corduroy!" he boomed over the inane rap music, shaking both twins' hands at once. Their ability to return his strength made him hesitate for a split second. "Ooo, strong grip. Like that. Like that power. Welcome to Gravity Falls!"

Wendy, standing nearby, heard his compliment. Her jaw dropped. " _Whoa_. Did he just say what I think he said?"

The twins ignored her amazement; their focus was on the tiny gold ball of light orbiting her father's head that trailed him as he walked away. He wasn't the only one with a glowing stalker. Lazy Susan had one that hugged the hem of her dress. Bud Gleeful had one tagging along between his shoulder blades. By their count, one out of every six people in the room had a formless firefly hanging around. At Winnie's direction, they retreated to a corner to address the issue.

"Are you hearing what I'm hearing?" Sue asked, barely audible over the dubstep country music.

"Yes. It's quiet enough for them now to say goodbye," Winnie replied. She poked at her ears a few times. "Relatively speaking."

Her ruby eyes traveled over the crowd. "That makes me happy and sad all at once. But I'm confused."

"Same. We'll talk about it later." She motioned at Stan, heading up to the stage.

"Soos, I will pay you to turn that off," he begged gruffly. "Please. I gotta—I gotta address the crowd. Soos. Soos! You're making my hearing aids go deaf! Ple—thank you. Phew. Ladies and gentlemen!"

The rest of his words were lost to the twins, who were too busy tracking the tiny golden twinkle that ran circles around his fez. "Oh... oh my," Sue breathed, her eyes wide. "There's another question for us."

"Yes," Winnie nodded before taking another bite of pizza. "But let's let everyone have tonight. They've earned it."


	8. Old Habits

Blackness spread out in every direction as far as Sue could see. While she was visible to herself – waving her hands in front of her eyes proved this – the light source that made it possible was nowhere to be found. Walking seemed pointless. No amount of steps got her anywhere different. Yet she pressed on through the abyss with long, powerful strides in hopes of... something. What it was she looked for escaped explanation, but it would surely be better than what surrounded her now.

Part of the ebony curtain slid away ahead, producing a white spike of illumination that was thickest at its base, like a spotlight was shining down. There were two vague forms caught in its glow, which turned out to be humanoid when Sue got close. They were small, like children.

 _Of course I'll play with you_. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. It didn't matter. She took one of the shapes by the neck with both hands and squeezed so hard her arms trembled with the force. The thing didn't react at all; it just hung limply in her grip – until it became Dipper. Sue threw him down and dropped to her knees. _What?_

The other thing became Mabel, lying on her side with deep bruises on her throat, just like her brother. They were dead. And it was her fault. She would have given all of creation to scream her grief, her horror, but only wispy breaths escaped her lips. _Why?!_

Sue's palms suddenly felt like hot coals. When she looked to determine why, a crimson slit opened vertically through each. The cuts leaked glittering drops of black fluid that flowed along her skin until they fell away into the empty hell around her. Unable to take looking at their bodies any longer, she ran weeping from the light and back into the darkness, legs driving so hard they felt ready to fly out of her hips altogether. After managing to empty her strength, she collapsed and looked back only to find them no farther away than when she'd started. Seething with rage, with horror, with anguish so deep it swallowed the dark, she screamed again. "Why can't I-" It was no longer black. She had woken up. "-get... get away. Agh." Tears ran down her cheeks as she wilted in the passenger seat – although this wasn't the silver Lamborghini she found herself in. "Oh, my heart."

Badly rattled, it took several moments for her to get her bearings and dry her eyes. She threw glances around the interior, clad in black with aluminum trim, a BMW logo on the steering wheel, and most notably two more seats in the back. Winnie wasn't here. In search of her sister, she next looked through the glass at the drizzle, then the little brick building on the other side of the parking lot. Beyond that lay a thick line of trees. Shaking, she got out and started toward the structure – only to be stopped by the car's metallic red paint. "What the..." Face screwed up with confusion, she darted around the back and found Winnie examining a vending machine.

"Oh, you're awake," she greeted, only to be stunned by Sue's red face after a moment. "...were you crying?"

"I had the dream again," she sighed, unable to elucidate the changes in this instance of it, at least so soon. More tears would fall if she did.

Winnie pulled her into a tight hug but said nothing else.

Sue was just as quiet for a long, long while. "Unh," she finally grunted, gently pulling away. Another subject had to be addressed now – but only after checking to see if they were alone. "Sister, the last time I got in that car it was silver."

"And now it's red." Winnie returned to eying the items in the vending machine.

Her hands went to her hips. "I noticed."

With a shrug, she finally inserted a bill and pressed a few buttons. "I saw how your eyes lit up when we were shopping around. You didn't really want silver. This is your car, it should be your favorite color. Nobody will know the difference," she explained while getting the bottle of Pepsi from the bottom.

"But it's _our_ car."

"So? You like blue. I can like red."

"Oh, you." Sue hugged her again, grinning widely. "Isn't it _gorgeous_?" At that point she noted how quiet her mind was. "How far away are we from Gravity Falls? I don't feel a thing out here."

"I drove for an hour. However far that is." She checked her watch and started back toward the sedan. "I think we've killed enough time. You want to drive back?"

Sue's face went blank for an instant. "Sure, but I have no idea where we... oh, it's got navigation! I don't need to know!" She almost skipped along. "Technology is fun!" Her anxiety was back in force as she slipped behind the wheel, however. "Uh, how heavy can I be with my foot? I wasn't really awake long enough to watch you drive."

"It makes a nice noise if you want it to. I'll help you."

Her fingers were shaking on the wheel. "Okay..." Getting back onto the freeway wasn't a problem, but Sue had a little trouble judging her speed. Winnie called out the numbers on the signs to keep her in line as cars zoomed by in the left lane. "Are you sure I'm doing sixty?"

She leaned over to look. "Yes. Everyone on these roads seems to be in a hurry. Just ignore them."

"Right." Sue drove on, grinning to herself as she pressed the accelerator a little harder. "It does make a nice sound, huh?"

"Mm. And we can still hear ourselves think." Winnie set up the navigation for her sister, settling back after she'd finished. "What about your dream?"

She slumped over as far as possible while still looking at the road. "Mabel and Dipper were in it this time. I tried to run away, but... you know."

Winnie took a thoughtful sip of soda. "So that's why you were crying."

"It _hurts_."

She hung her head and frowned. "Of course it does. We understand what we've done now."

"I guess." Sue's grip got tighter. "Are you still having _your_ dream?"

"I..." Her face dropped as she looked out the passenger window. "Yes. The details are a lot clearer now, though. But the injection is just as painful as it's always been."

"Oh." Sue felt the air get heavy; this was a path neither woman felt like going down right now. Again, she groped for a new topic. "Forget it. How should we confront Stan Pines? I don't have any ideas."

"I'm not sure yet either," Winnie agreed, brow furrowing in thought. "I don't think either of us wants to tip over the apple cart by just barging in there."

Brief giggles came and went. "Apple cart. You're right. I can't figure out how to go about it... discreetly."

The blue-eyed woman's nascent reply was interrupted as her phone started to ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Winnie! You are Winnie, right? Man, you two sound exactly the same over the phone." It was Dipper.

Smiling lightly, she shook her head. "Yes, it's me. What's going on?"

"Ah, nothin', nothin'. Noticed you left pretty early last night. Mabel wanted me to ask if she'd made you mad again but you guys were hard to get in touch with."

"Oh, sorry. We've been in Portland on an errand," Winnie lied smoothly. "And no, I'm not mad."

"Great! Good. I'll tell her. She was freaking out a little. Uh, by the way, you still wanna check out the journal?"

Winnie squinted out at the intermittent raindrops. "We do. We'll be back in about an hour or so. Tell Mabel she's going to be disappointed."

"Huh? About what?"

"It's a surprise." She glanced over and grinned at Sue's quizzical look. "I'm going to go before I distract my sister too much."

"Oh, right. Later!"

Sue, an eyebrow still cocked, peered at her sister for a moment. "I assume that was Dipper. Everything all right?"

"Fine. He wanted to know if we were still interested in the journal." She reached over to the dashboard to change their destination. "Perhaps we can get something from it without having to poke around."

"Good idea!" She accelerated again, smiling as the engine released a pleasant metal purr into the cabin. "Oh. This _is_ fun."

Winnie crossed her arms, regarding her with a stern look. "Mm. Remember the difference between fun and crashing, if you don't mind."

* * *

Thanks in part to Sue's lead foot, they managed to outrun the rain back to Gravity Falls. Clouds were just beginning to roll in overhead as she brought the red BMW to a halt in front of the Mystery Shack. A gentle, low hum greeted them as they stepped out, though even after concentrating they couldn't decide whether the building or the pit was its source. Mabel came around to greet them with a portly pig toddling along at her feet.

"Ooo, hey!" the girl waved with a broad smile. "Hey, where's the whatchamathingy?"

"Got rid of it. We decided to go with something a little less... conspicuous," Winnie replied as they walked over to meet her. "Waddles, I presume?" Her head tilted as the pig oinked up at her.

"I—I want one," Sue whispered with awe. "It's so pink and cute."

Mabel gave her a wink. "Yeah. She gets it," she smirked before looking back at Winnie. "Kinda sad you ditched it, though. I made $400 last night. Bought me enough knitting supplies to last until January!"

Sue let a chuckle slip as she rubbed Waddles' belly. "We're not really used to the attention."

"Awwww, but four doors are boring! Bleh. Anyways, his royal Dippingness is in the gift shop waitin' on ya."

Winnie smiled a thank you and headed off, Sue in tow and grumbling about not being able to take Waddles along. They met Wendy on the porch, apparently heading off somewhere. "What's up, guys? Cool wheels. Again. Must be nice being loaded."

"Thank you," Winnie nodded politely. "It was nice meeting your father, by the way. Even if he tried to break our fingers."

The redhead grinned wryly and straightened. "Aw, he just shakes hard." Her eyes went to the BMW as she walked to her bike. "Man, that is _shiny._ "

"Isn't it?" Sue beamed. A glance around quashed the smile – her sister was wearing an odd look that she couldn't explain. "Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?" Winnie's inquiry was addressed to Wendy, who nodded. "Did your father... did he lose someone at Gravity Falls General?"

The question made her freeze right in the middle of putting on her helmet. The color left her cheeks. "I—what? How did you know?"

"We talk to ghosts, remember?"

"Oh, man, I..." she breathed, rubbing her face. "When did you figure this out?"

"At the party last night," Sue explained. "We felt them saying goodbye."

"Is that why...?" Tears began to gather in Wendy's eyes. "He was so happy yesterday. I mean, he'd been feeling better, but he was just... smilin'. I was afraid to ask him why. Do you—do you think he knew something?"

"I think everyone knows on some level. Perhaps it just feels like closure," Winnie said quietly. Both twins blinked when she came over and gave each a tight hug.

"Fuck, man—sorry. Sorry." She tried to wipe away the swear, only to find a grateful smile in its place. "I don't know how to thank you."

Winnie shook her gratitude off. "We didn't do anything. I just thought he had a right to know someone he'd lost was telling him farewell."

"Whatever. He feels a lot better now." Finally she got around to strapping on her headgear. "Oh, I'm gonna cry. I better ride hard and get it outta my system. Later."

They watched her speed away. Sue, face screwed up with confusion, regarded her sister with crossed arms. "What was that for?"

"It's nice to _alleviate_ someone's suffering for once." With a light smile, she moved up to the door and entered the gift shop.

Dipper was sitting idly behind the register. "Hey, there you are!" He waved them over while producing _3_ from inside his vest. "Here it is," he chirped proudly, opening the book as they gathered around and spinning it so they could read. "We got squash head, gnomes, stupid crystals that can get you stepped on, rocks which speak backwards, and a fish that fishes for other fish – with a pole and everything – among other insanity." The last item made him shudder. "Ugh, that's creepy. Like people that eat people." Their icy silence gave him goosebumps. "Uh, hello?"

"Reading now," Winnie advised flatly.

"Oh. Heh. You sound like me sometimes." He also looked down at the page – the entry was about screaming mushrooms – and tilted his head. "It's weird, though. A lot of stuff we've run into hasn't been in here."

"I'm finding it hard to believe any of this," Sue pointed out as she turned to another entry. "It all seems impossible." She looked up, as did Winnie, when Dipper snorted.

"Sorry," he apologized, thumbing over to the cooler in the corner near the door. "Just thinking of that sign. I understand what you mean, though. None of it makes any sense... and then it _happens_ to you."

"But how..." Winnie rubbed at her hair and sighed. "You're right, none of it makes sense. We certainly never ran into things like this back home."

"Gravity Falls, yo. Strangest place on Earth," he chuckled weakly. Noises from beyond the curtain startled him – Grunkle Stan was chatting with a tour group. He sounded remarkably upbeat. "Oh, I forgot, a group's coming through. You wanna take this into the living room?"

Winnie nodded. "If you wouldn't mind." Journal in hand, they retreated through the door and sat at the round table to confer. "This is very close to insane," she muttered to Sue. "What is going on around here?"

The red-eyed woman tugged at her bangs in thought. "We could ask the pit. Perhaps the two things are related."

"Perhaps." Soos walked in from the kitchen with a can of Pitt in his hand, forcing them to drop the conversation. "Hello."

"'Sup, dudes?" He saw the journal and smiled. "Haha, yeah, I kinda had that look on my face first time I read it too. You get used to it. My favorite one is the vegetarian Venus Fly Trap."

Sue drooped back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. "My mind is boggled. Where is all this stuff?"

"Everywhere! Just gotta look. Bunch of it hides in the forest." He paused for a drink, during which he thought it a good idea to be curious. "So, what's your story? You were pretty quiet at the party."

"We're from Iowa," Winnie stated, never looking up from the journal.

Detecting her intent, Sue spoke next to begin a set of back and forth lies. "Sioux City, to be exact."

"The cemetery there is haunted."

"Most of the ghosts are pretty shy."

"Many don't even know words."

"We thought Gravity Falls would be quieter."

"But it's much, much louder."

"We want to know why."

"Perhaps you'd like to help." It was Winnie who finished the chain. Both twins finally looked over at Soos just to see his reaction.

His jaw was dropped, his hand was raised, but words failed him for several seconds. "Okay when they do that it's cute. When you do it it's kinda scary. No—no offense."

"You're not the first to tell us that," Sue replied with a rather dark grin.

Mabel popped through the door, oinking in tune with Waddles until the atmosphere stopped both cold. "Whoa. Sure is-" An appropriate word escaped her. "-weird in here, I guess. Oh, you lookin' at the journal?" She darted over to examine it with them. "Ooo, the fairies. We got into a fight with 'em after Soos accidentally iced one. Good times." She ignored his nervous laugh with a smile. "They were using some freaky magic or something... but we're all cool now. Just as long as Soos stays away from the woods near the lake."

"Is that so," Winnie said, her eyes glittering dangerously.

"Um..." Mabel backed away to stand with the handyman, head tilted. "Way to sound scary."

Sue tried her best to be reassuring. "Oh, that's just her thoughtful voice." She looked back down at the pages. "Do you think we could meet them?"

Mabel shrugged at her. "I dunno, I guess? All they said was no Soos in their neighborhood. You gotta be careful, though, they're really strong."

"Y-yeah, don't let their compact and adorable nature fool you," he agreed, looking somewhat pale.

Everyone glanced over as Dipper poked his head in. "Mabel, can I borrow you for a sec? Grunkle Stan wants to pickpocket someone and he needs your cuteness to distract them."

She rolled her eyes with a loud groan. "Doesn't that sound legally ambiguous. Maybe I can talk him out of it. Come on, Waddles."

In a few seconds it was just Soos and the identical twins once more. Sue closed the journal as they both stood. "Make sure Dipper gets this back, would you?" she asked politely.

"Sure. Yep. See you ladies later?" he asked, a bit unsure.

Winnie dropped a terse "Yes," and nothing else as she lead Sue outside and to the car. "I'm driving."

"Okay." Sue's face was unusually grave. "You think these things are really able to use magic?"

"We're about to find out," she replied while shifting into gear, "and we'd better be prepared."

* * *

The fog of sparks in Gravity Falls traveled through their brains like stars in the night sky as Winnie drove to the lake. New ones lit up and faded as they went, but as they drew nearer a chunk of the cluster distinguished itself from the rest. Sue's brow began to furrow. "I guess something or other is over there."

Winnie's eyes darted between traffic and mysterious stings of feeling. "Did you notice the date for the first section of that entry? It bothers me a little."

"Oh?" She needed a moment to recall it. "June 1963. Hrm. I wonder..."

There was no more time for questions; they had arrived. While the western shore of Lake Gravity Falls was a cliff, the east side featured a narrow, but thick strip of trees between itself and the town. A few people dotted the shoreline as they stalked toward the woods, tanning or fishing or playing volleyball. Sue noted Pacifica amongst their number, lying under a pink umbrella and apparently asleep. Unlike their last visit, the twins attracted little attention.

For that, Winnie was thankful. "Good call on the car," she said lowly to Sue as they skulked into the forest. They looked up at the majestic firs. "Smells familiar."

"If you can call it a smell." She looked back over her shoulder at the beach – what little of it was now visible through the trunks, at least. "If they're here, how do we get them to come out?"

Winnie shrugged at her. They both felt the creatures all over, like a swarm of invisible fireflies hiding in the branches. "Let's see how well they regard trespassers."

Pressing on grew more difficult the farther they went. Not only were the trees thicker, but the undergrowth became a sea of thorns and brambles, ankle-high, that the twins had to dance their way through until they became too widespread to navigate. Birds were the only animals they encountered now, and those stayed high above in the canopy to fill the air with song. "We're not walking from here," Sue pointed out. "We'll have to fly."

"Mm. Let's see if detection goes both ways." Winnie's sneakers detached from the mossy earth. Together they hovered on, about a foot above the tangled mess. A pink streak of light flashed before them for an instant. "There's one."

"I got it," Sue confirmed, tracking the object more with her sixth sense than with sight. "Above us." A curious, gleaming pink flock of shapes had gathered there, full of tiny humanoids with wings and dresses. They pointed curiously at the women and muttered among themselves with strange voices, almost too tiny to be heard over the rustling leaves. None of their number dared approach.

It didn't matter; the blue-eyed woman was seeing all she needed to see from here. "That sparkle!" she exclaimed. "Now it _looks_ like home."

"I am so very confused," her sister replied. "Why do they feel like the presence in the pit? And in the hospital?" She looked over at Winnie and nodded down toward their hands. "Let's stop hiding it. I bet it looks the same."

"Very well."

In a few seconds, translucent black tendrils sprouted from their hands, eventually growing into a bubble of sparkling shadow that went from their wrists to a little farther than their fingertips. Winnie's glittered with icy blue undertones, while Sue's bore a reddish hue. This aura matched that of the fairies above, save for size and color. At Sue's urging, they decided to fly up closer. "Look, see? We can do it too," she said gently, showing them her hands.

The fairies chirped with shock and scattered – though they didn't fly completely out of sight. Their chatter became fearful and confused – then angry.

"I don't care for your tone," Winnie advised lowly, her fingers curling into fists. She was ignored; the fairies began pulling leaves off the branches. In their grip, the foliage transformed into tiny swords. "Or your actions."

Sue's eyes narrowed warily, but she had to point out a problem. "Sister... there are still people close by."

She issued a sideways glance with her assurance. "We can teach our lesson quietly enough." Her gaze went back to the threat. More fairies were swooping in. There had to be at least a thousand facing them down now, from all sides. "If they're stupid enough to ask for it."

Her answer came almost instantly. The cotton candy cloud surged forth with a whistling flash of blades. The twins threw up their arms to shield their faces, only to have the limbs covered with wounds in seconds. Just as abruptly the attack ceased. Winnie and Sue lowered their battered limbs, having taken so many strikes they were emitting a drizzle of blood onto the ground far below. However, they bore no pain in their expressions. No anguish. There was only resignation.

And a muted form of rage.

"Really," Winnie hissed, letting her arms fall to her sides. "We weren't going to attack you. We were never going to attack you." The cuts began to close up, leaving only crimson stains behind.

"I only wanted to say hello," Sue added, her injuries also fading away with each passing moment. "She's right. We had no intention of hurting you at all." She lifted her left hand, still sheathed in black power. "But now we're mad _._ " A fairy zipped unwillingly into her grasp, shrieking all the way. She held up up to her face as it stabbed at her with its minuscule weapon which she flicked away with a glare. From this range, the small creature sounded like a songbird. Its kin, still surrounding them, began to yell with a pleading tone – though even together their chorus was barely louder than the average conversation. "You want my mercy now?" Her own anger gave her pause; she looked to her sister for guidance. "I have a right to be this mad, don't I?"

There was nothing but confirmation in her blue eyes. "Defend yourself. Just don't get carried away. You know the old saying."

"I can do that." She looked back at the squirming, screaming fairy in her hand. With a firm clench and a faint crack of her knuckles, she crushed it to death. The others fell silent with horror – save one, who charged from the crowd and right at their faces.

Winnie snatched it right out of the air – no telekinesis needed. "One more test," she determined, holding it by the ankle as it called for help. "Feels the same."

Sue's eyes widened a bit; she knew exactly where this was going. She adjusted her grip until the fairy dangled between her fingers in the same manner. "Looks the same."

They shared an inexplicable expression then, one whose meaning only they understood. In perfect harmony, they opened their mouths and dropped their captives in, to the screaming horror of the fairies watching. Despite their anguish, none of them tried to save the living one, who wailed all the way into Winnie's maw until her teeth crunched down. They swallowed in unison with an awful sound.

"Tastes the same," Sue noted sadly. "I thought I'd never do that again." Their assailants had scattered. The twins floated gently back down and landed on the nearest patch of bramble-free ground to contemplate what had just happened. "Never thought I'd be attacked again, either. Why would they do such a thing?"

"Perhaps they were afraid of us. It wouldn't be the first time." Winnie focused on the dying twinkle in her stomach. "We have a problem. This is our power, for lack of a better term. Why is it here?"

Sue nodded while looking around. "And why is it everywhere?"

"Mm. We've got a lot of exploring to do."

Despite that, for some minutes they just stood around, considering the implications. Sue decided to go with what they knew to be fact. "It didn't come in with us. It's been here for fifty years. At least. Either it grew here on its own, or it found another way in. Maybe that's what the voices in the pit were saying to us."

"Which leads us right back to the Mystery Shack," Winnie said with a glower. We've got to find some way of breaking this to them. I can't see any other option." Her lips pursed with disdain at the thought, so she went to a more immediate matter. "I don't think we can go back out there looking like this," she sighed at her bloody arms. "We should find somewhere to wash off."

"Yes..." Sue stared off into the wooded distance. The birds were now silent. "We'd better start building appearances to keep up. Who knows how long we'll be here."

Winnie joined her in gazing, though she was looking back toward the lake. "Mm. The vacation is over. Gravity Falls is officially our problem now." Her sight began to wander as they walked back to the lake. "I think I agree with you. I do feel like there are eyes on me in here."

"Isn't it weird?" Sue peered through the trees, checking for witnesses as they went. "Maybe we should ask about that, too."


	9. But Wait, There's More

For much of that night and the next morning, they stayed out of the oppressive heat and ruminated at home, debating – sometimes silently – about their next course of action. Winnie had taken the position that there wasn't a whole lot else they could do besides start asking hard questions, while giving up some additional truths about themselves in exchange.

Sue did not agree. "If they talk, aren't you worried about shattering everyone's perception?" she asked after the latest round of debate. "Remember what happened the last time one of us did that."

Her words hit Winnie right where it hurt. She folded her arms and frowned into her lap. "I know. But what we're feeling isn't supposed to be here. They know the place better than we do." She glanced over to the dormant TV. "You've altered things since we arrived, right?"

"Only what was necessary."

Winnie scowled faintly. "Doesn't it seem different?"

Sue tilted her head. "I hadn't really paid attention, to be honest. Why?"

"Try it. Tell me what you feel."

With a shrug, she looked at the TV and lifted her hand. A snap of her fingers caused it to fold up and shrink into a silvery teapot, which she suspended in the air. "Wow. It _doesn't_ feel quite the same, does it? It's not even whispering at me." Another snap brought the object back to its original form. "It's... it's kind of like clay."

"Exactly. Gravity Falls is very squishy. And not just Gravity Falls," she stated, nodding out the window at the BMW in the driveway. "I had no problem at all changing that thing – and we were well out of town when I did. This whole world is so pliable."

Sue rubbed at her arm thoughtfully. "Oh. That could be a problem."

"Now you understand why I'm so anxious. If we don't figure this out... the world as these people know it could cease to exist. We have to make sure the power isn't spreading." Winnie's expression grew distant. "And..."

"You're trying to atone, too. I understand." Sue reached over and gave her a pat on the knee. "I wish I'd been there. Maybe... maybe we could have found some other way to stop it."

Her voice grew weak and awkward. "I know."

Silent seconds trundled by, which turned into minutes, then nearly half an hour. Sue couldn't save them with a change of subject this time; the topic at hand was one of her sister's greatest regrets. There was only one way to fight it: hugging. Just as they embraced, however, a thumping knock erupted from the front door. Winnie grunted with annoyance as she rose to answer. "I am in no mood for this right now." However, the person standing behind it was enough to replace her anger with surprise. "Mister Corduroy?"

The mountain disguised as a lumberjack looked genuinely _timid_ standing there, with hands wringing and a distinct inability to make eye contact. "Miss... ah, Winnie? I didn't mean to... uh..."

Wendy suddenly leaned out from behind him, an apologetic grin plastered on her face. "Sorry. I couldn't stop him. I was lucky I was able to make him wait _this_ long."

Sue joined her sister at the door, head cocked curiously. "Oh, hello. What's this about?"

Words were well beyond his reach, but the relieved expression he bore said quite a bit. The twins came outside, and together they all waited on him to speak. "Her name was gonna be Diana," he finally choked out. "When I was born she would have been eleven years old."

"...I get it." Sue took him by the hand and smiled. "That was your sister we heard."

"Yeah. I wish she'd made it. Wendy coulda had a mom after..." Rendered speechless by the pain, all Manly Dan could do was sit down and struggle to contain his tears. Wendy came over to give him an awkward half-hug. "We never knew how she died, you know? Never charged him with her death, but my mom always had doubts. I'm just happy she was able to say goodbye before she moved on." He stood abruptly, leaving his daughter hanging on his back.

"Hey!" she protested, dropping off. "Man, you gotta warn me next time."

"How can I repay you?" he boomed dramatically. "You got trees that need choppin'? Oh, I'll chop those trees. Chop 'em real good."

"We can chop our own trees," Winnie replied, arms crossed. "Like I said to Wendy, there's no need to thank us. All we did was hear the voices."

"You better think of something," Wendy advised with a smile. "He ain't gonna stop until you do."

"Hrm..." Sue looked from side to side, a hand on her hip as she considered options. Her eyes went to the brick exterior. "We've been meaning to pressure wash the house, but-"

Dan didn't give her a chance to finish. "I'll make that dirt regret being born! Come on, Wendy."

She stared at him helplessly. "Are you nuts, man? It's a million degrees out here!"

"We'll get the equipment," Winnie sighed, leading Sue back into the house.

They conjured up a washer and a few rolls of hose from a pile of junk in the closet in the hallway leading out of the living room – a closet with a small stack of gold bars in the back right corner. Hauling all this to the eager lumberjack and his not-so-eager daughter took three trips, but in a few minutes they were at work on the front, starting with the section covered by the porch roof. The twins watched their progress for a while. "Look at him go," Sue commented, her brow cocked. "I didn't think you could clean something that fast."

Winnie nodded idly. "Mm. Maybe they'll be done when we get back."

"Where are we going?" By the time she looked over, her sister was already on her way to the car. "Wait for me!" Her tone had gotten grumpy by the time she started buckling up. "Sister! Would you mind filling me in?"

"You said we shouldn't fight them."

Sue's face screwed up. "Fight who?"

She glanced up at the mirror and backed out, taking off down the hill. "Mabel and Dipper. Let's see if you're truly right about them being able to help us."

Yes, she recalled saying it, but Winnie's sudden acceptance of the idea left her a little anxious. "Are you..."

"The fairies altered matter too. Maybe they've seen it happen already." Winnie glanced about as the town moved past outside. "Having the Corduroys clean the house should buy us enough time. I don't think they should hear this."

"I see. I guess it couldn't hurt to ask." Sue relaxed and allowed her attention to wander. It landed on her arms, which were as unmarred as they'd been before the fairy attack yesterday. "Those little swords of theirs were sharp."

"I wanted to vaporize those little bastards."

"Oh?" She tried to seem surprised, but dropped the act after a second. Her eyes grew dark as storm clouds. "So did I. _Nobody_ hurts my sister."

* * *

The rest of their trip passed wordlessly. A tour bus was departing as they came in sight of the Mystery Shack; Stan watched them from the gift shop entrance as they parked and emerged from the red BMW. "Hey, it's you!" he called with a wave. The twins regarded him warily as they approached the steps. "Still mad at me? Listen, uh..." His demeanor shifted into something more grateful – almost vulnerable, they decided.

And for this reason Winnie decided to hear him out – but only after glancing around for the tiny spirit light she'd seen following him at the party. It was missing. "Yes?" she urged, peering at him suspiciously. "Are you about to ask us for money again?"

"No, no. No. I just... Dipper told me what happened at the hospital." He put his cane aside and sat on the top step. "How you saved 'em from the collapse." Abruptly, he raised his hands a little. "I ain't sayin' it's your fault. I know what he did. I don't even know how you all got _in_ there. Doesn't matter. Thanks. For, you know. Not letting 'em get hurt."

At first, they didn't know what to say. Winnie deferred to Sue with a brief nod. "It's nothing, really. We weren't going to let something bad happen to them if we could help it." That was as far as she'd go without knowing the extent of what Dipper had confessed.

"Yeah. Yeah." The old man stood and scowled at the forest. "Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. By maybe I mean absolutely." He put on his best smile while offering a hand. "Let's try again. I'm Stan Pines. Just call me Stan. But not Grunkle Stan. I ain't your Grunkle."

They shook it in turn, smiling to various degrees. "I think you already know our names," Sue said uncertainly.

"Winnie and Sue?" He addressed them in reverse order, then blinked at their denial. "Oh. I got it backwards, didn't I."

"Yes," Sue giggled. "Our given names are Summer and Winter."

"Oh. Huh. My real name's Stanford. Hadn't been called that by someone who wasn't Gideon in..." He suddenly became a little crestfallen. "A long time. Meh. Which you like best?"

After a brief, shared glance, Winnie took over the spokeswoman role. "I prefer our full names, to be honest." Sue nodded her agreement after a moment.

"Fine. Winter and Summer. No offense, but your parents must have been hippies." He didn't get the expected chuckle – even awkward laughter would have been better than the utter misery that marred their pale faces. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to... I dunno. Whatever I just did."

"We don't get along very well with our... parents," Winnie explained quietly. "At all."

Stan winced a bit too hard, requiring him to readjust his red fez. "Oooo. Yeah. I kinda know where you're coming from. Still, though, I suggest makin' up with 'em if ya can. You—you never know when the window will close."

The blue-eyed woman's face became unhappy. "Perhaps one day," she said, her tone steely.

"Alllll right, movin' on." Vocally and physically, as he motioned them to follow him into the gift shop. They found it empty, though Mabel could be heard laughing about something behind the living room door. "Guess I was wrong about the inheritance part, huh?"

"We're self-made," Sue clarified, not a hint of irony in her voice. "Dealing in... precious metals. Gold, mostly."

"Nice." Stan's vaguely greedy cackle drew their ire once more. "Hey, I wouldn't take you for a ride. Not after what you did for the kids. I might be a liar, thief, con, cheat, uh... you got it. But I have principles, and – don't you dare tell them this – I love those kids. I'd do anything for 'em."

Sue found his clunky expression of affection adorable. "Oh, how cute. We'll keep your little secret."

"Mm," Winnie groaned, rolling her eyes. However, she was smiling too. "How long have you lived here?"

He trundled behind the register and sat, using the stool normally occupied by Wendy. "Born here. Wandered a little while. All over. Moved back... twenty years ago, I guess it was."

Winnie decided to act while she had the huckster alone, despite Sue's reluctant vibe. "And you haven't noticed anything strange since you returned?"

Stan allowed himself a chuckle. "Strange? Oh, you been hearin' the stories too, huh? Old wives' tales. Legends. Buncha bored knuckleheads makin' up stuff."

The blue-eyed woman moved in for the kill. "Even the dinosaurs?" she asked, hands on her hips.

His eyes got wide with shock. "Eh? Uh... they told you that. And you believed 'em?"

"We looked ourselves," Sue replied quietly. "Dinosaurs aren't very friendly."

He busted out laughing in full this time. "Yeah! Yeah, I'd agree. How'd you get away?" A brief examination gave him what he sure was the answer. "Ah, you probably rock climb and run marathons all day or something."

"Mm." Winnie glanced over as Mabel walked in, but she wasn't prepared for the high-pitched shriek that came next.

" _Grunkle_ _Staaaaaaaaaaaaaa_ —oh. There you are. Hey!" She displayed a slightly vacant grin at the two women, although her smile didn't last long. "Wait, is he trying to extort you guys again? Did I use that word right?" After a second she leaned back through the living room door. "Dipper!" she screeched. "What does extort mean?!"

"I'm not extortin' anybody," Stan assured her, a hand over his good ear to absorb her volume. He wasn't the only one trying to shield his ears; the twins were covering theirs with _both_ hands. "Geez, kid, I'm seriously thinkin' about gettin' you cellphones so you can text or whatever you call it."

"There isn't a phone plan on this Earth that can handle me, but thanks anyway," Mabel informed him happily. "So, whatcha doin'? Are—are you buying stuff? I didn't think we had anything you'd want."

Sue tried to match her cheerfulness. "No, we came to see you!"

Winnie, however, did not try. At all. "We need to talk. About... things."

"Feeling like the fifth wheel here," Stan admitted with a sigh. "I gotta go to town anyway. Need to buy some more brown meat. Tell your brother I'll be back later. And don't let Soos on the roof. Ever again." He departed, leaving a cloud of grumbles in his wake.

"Bye!" Once he'd gone, Mabel returned her attention to the twins. "What's up?"

"It's complicated," Winnie answered plainly. "Get Dipper. We need to show you something."

"Ooo! Wait. Are we gonna die?" She smiled wide at their head shaking. "Okay, my ooo stands. Dipper!"

Before long, both sets of twins were enjoying a stroll toward the woods – at least, the younger ones were. Winnie and Sue were unnervingly quiet. "So, what's this about? Did you guys actually go fairy hunting yesterday?" Dipper finally asked as they left the Mystery Shack's clearing behind.

"Yes, we did," Sue nodded. "They didn't like us much."

Mabel darted over to her side with a worried look. "Huh? What happened? Did they do the leaf thing? They totally did, didn't they?!" She checked their bare skin for cuts, smiling when she found none. "Oh, phew."

That was all the indication Winnie needed. "They tried to kill us," she said bluntly, popping Mabel's happy bubble. "So we killed them. Two of them, to be exact."

The Pines stared with slack jaws after her confession. Not even Mabel had the will to make sound. "But—I mean they came at us too," Dipper stammered, "but we just scared them off with Mabel trying to sing."

"I wasn't that bad," she grumbled, but managed to stay on point. "Hold up, though, when we saw them there were like, hundreds. How did you only ice two?"

"Restraint, discipline, or mercy. Call it what you will," Winnie murmured, staring off into the distance. They were well into the trees by now, so the group came to a halt at her direction. "You've seen them change objects?"

"Well, yeah. A bunch of them rushed us with little swords they made out of leaves," Dipper acknowledged with uncertain eyes. "We nearly got our butts handed to us. Did the same happen to you?"

"More or less," Sue shrugged. "We got mad and... well, mad enough to be scary enough to make them stop." Her ruby eyes rolled about as she mentally checked her diction. "I think that made sense."

Mabel detected a serious shift in tone and became uneasy, despite their cheerful surroundings. "What does 'get mad' mean for you guys, exactly? I'm gettin' a bad feeling over here."

Winnie went right to the point, snapping a small branch from a nearby bush and holding it in her clenched fist. "See this?" She snapped with her free hand. The twig spun out into a silver necklace, eighteen inches or so in length. She let it dangle between her fingers.

All Dipper could do was voice exactly what he was thinking. "Um. You can't do that. You're not a fairy. You can't just make things into other things oh gosh my brain's starting to cry." He ducked his head and whined. "My eyes aren't working! That's all. No problem. Just need to wake them up. My... oh boy." For once, his sister was the silent one, standing there with mouth agape and right eye faintly twitching. "Mabel, could you pinch me?"

"I think you broke them," Sue groaned, rubbing her face.

"Are... _are_ you fairies?" Mabel asked at last, her voice wavering. "Like, big... fairy queens! You're – that sounds like Dairy Queen and now I'm hungry." She tried to laugh at herself, but it was almost painfully forced.

"We're not fairies, no." Winnie's tone had gotten quite gentle. In order to make herself less intimidating, she dropped to one knee. "I'm sorry to dump this on you so abruptly, but..."

Mabel was trying to shake sense back into her brother. "What the heck are you?" she demanded. "How did you do that? And can I have it? It's _shiny_." She squealed a little as Winnie handed the necklace over. "Awwwww, yeah. Now talk!"

"We're not like you," Sue said quietly, her eyes on the ground. "We never have been. Normal, I mean."

Dipper let out one more groan before his mind reengaged. "I—okay, Mabel, I'm back. Easy." He needed one more sharp breath to collect his thoughts. "Are you using magic?" Their nod made his brow furrow. "But... _how_? I mean, there are magical things in the journal and all but you certainly aren't one of them."

"A topic for another time," the blue-eyed woman decided. "There's something about this place that speaks to us. Would you help us find out what it is?"

"Iiiiiiii dunno," Mabel said with an open-mouthed frown. "You're all magical now and you talk to ghosts and I dunno if I like where this is going. 'Cause the last guy we met that had powers? Real creepy, man. Reeeeeal creepy."

Her brother nodded along as she spoke, then crossed his arms. "She has a point."

"Oh, but we'd never hurt you!" Sue insisted vehemently. "You're our friends! We don't..." She began to break down, slumping over with her eyes tightly shut. "We've never had many friends." Winnie arrived by her side just as she started to weep.

This confused Mabel to no end. "Why wouldn't you have friends? You're rich. And nice. And lookin' good, if I may say so my own self." She ignored Dipper's raised eyebrow with a smile. "Seriously. You should be super popular!"

"Hold it." He eyed them, at first from a distance, then walked over closer. "Were you born this way?" Winnie was the only one to answer, and that was limited to a nod. Her icy eyes were full of bitterness. "Oh, man."

Sue regained her composure at last, shooing her sister away with a gentle nudge. "Don't worry about our childhoods. You can't tell anyone what we've told you, okay?"

Her request flew right over Mabel's head. "We gotta tell Soos and Wendy!" she blurted out excitedly. "They're gonna freak!"

Dipper scolded her with a smack on the arm. "Did you not hear what she just said?"

"If they promise not to talk, I'm okay with it," Winnie decided. "If you trust them, so can I." Sue nodded her approval a moment later.

She celebrated her victory with a fist pump. "Ha! I win. Anything else you wanna spill while we're here?"

Both women were non-committal at first, but Sue gathered up enough courage to speak after a moment. "Well... I think we'd like to be called our real names now."

"They're your nicknames?" Mabel blinked. "But I like them. Winnie and Sue. Winnie and Sue. Hee hee hee," she giggled, saying the names to the tune of 'Winnie the Pooh'.

"I do too! Anyway, I'm Summer. She's Winter."

Dipper shook his head and moved the discussion back to more important matters. "Whoa, whoa. Look, Winter's a cool name and all," he began, but was derailed by his pun. "Wow, I should be shot for that. Ahem. Are you telling me you can change anything into anything?"

"More or less," Winnie confirmed with a nod. "Complex items are generally harder for us to transform. Also, we need to know an object exists before we can change something into it."

"So you could just make a bar of gold out of..." He looked around for a suitable item, scratching his head. "That mushroom?" Sue pressed it into a glittering yellow ingot with a snap. "H-holy crap. You could singlehandedly destroy the entire economy!"

"That's bad!" Mabel chirped. A second later she looked at her brother for confirmation. "That's bad, right?"

Dipper, checking out the gold bar, tried to lift it. It was almost too heavy for him to budge. "Yes! Yes it is. They're not joking, we gotta be careful about who knows this stuff." He yelped with terror as the metal began to float. "What the heck?!"

"There's also this," Winnie said, her left hand stretched out toward the object. "Telekinesis, I guess you'd call it."

"Sweet Sally," Mabel breathed. "I knew you guys _looked_ like superheroes, but dang. Bro, we're in a comic book!"

He watched Winnie return the gold bar to its original mushroom state and stick it in the ground again before backing off to stand with his sister. "I must be dreaming. Okay. You said Gravity Falls 'speaks' to you. What's that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"We feel the same power all over. The fairies used it, for instance," Sue explained, rocking back and forth on her heels. "What we don't know is why. It's not something we felt back in, um, Iowa."

"Now _this_ is a mystery." Mabel's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Still kinda weirded out by the change-y thing, though. Gonna need a few minutes."

Winnie nodded as she started back toward the clearing. "I understand. We should get home anyway. You can discuss it and give us an answer. We'll send Wendy here once they're done cleaning."

"All right," Dipper shrugged. "Man, I hardly believe what I just saw. I knew Gideon could lift stuff with his mind – even if _he_ got the ability from the stupid amulet Mabel broke. Don't even get me started on shifting matter, either. This is insanity."

"Hmm, I guess we _are_ pretty insane," Sue grinned, seemingly back to her usual self. They walked all the way back to the red BMW together. "Maybe we'll see you later?"

"Maybe! Hey, pick a superhero name!" Mabel encouraged as they got in the car. "Bye!"

"We'll... think about it, I suppose," Winnie said with a shrug.

After they'd driven off, the Pines wandered back into the empty gift shop and let out a simultaneous sigh. "Wow," Dipper mumbled. "I know you said Winnie – uh, Winter – looked like Mystique, but I didn't think she was a real mutant. Or whatever she is. I guess we know how they got rich, though."

"I know, right? They'll _definitely_ be great to have around. They be strong." Mabel's grin faded, however. "Wait. If Gravity Falls is magical, where did the magic come from? Dead people? Is that why they hear spirits?"

Dipper didn't see her expression; if he had, he wouldn't have walked away. "I dunno. Bill can change stuff like that too, at least if he's in your head." The thought made him stop. "Hey, you don't think he has something to do with this, do you? 'Cause that would mean they're either not from Iowa... or Bill has a longer reach than we think."

Mabel folded her arms and scowled. "I don't like the last option very much. And if they were Bill-ified, wouldn't we'd know? Not sure how, but... some way. Like they'd have triangle pupils or something."

"I doubt it. Okay, granted, my journal's entry doesn't mention him being able to do that, but we don't know what Gideon knows. And I guess you'd have to summon him to do anything. I'm pretty sure nobody else knows how." Suddenly his eyes got huge. "Holy mackerel, could you imagine what would happen if he got into one of _their_ minds? Everyone on the planet would be in danger!"

The image was enough to maker her shiver in her sweater. "Dude, stop. I'm getting paranoid enough."

He rested his chin on his arms. "Same. I need to hear what Soos and Wendy think."

"You sure you wanna drag her into this, bro?"

"Not so much drag her into it as prepare her for what we might find – or what might happen. Maybe we should tell Grunkle Stan, too. Things could get really, really dicey if we're not careful."

"So we are gonna help them?" Mabel asked, poking him on the elbow.

"I guess. If they wanted to, they could have made us disappear ages ago. And they did save our lives from that ghost thing." His eyes betrayed the fact that other issues were weighing on his mind. "Do you remember what Bill said after we beat him? 'A day will come in the future when everything you know will change', and whatever?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

He leaned up, regarding her with an anxious stare. "Do you think he meant this?"

* * *

It took all the way until the first red light in town for either woman to break the silence. "I think it went okay," Summer said. Her tone wasn't exactly confident. "They didn't run away screaming."

Winter kept her eyes squarely on the road. "For the moment."

"You're such a pessimist."

She squeezed the wheel a little tighter. "I'm practical." A light bulb went off in her head. "Wait, we forgot to tell them we can't really speak to ghosts."

Summer braced herself as they accelerated through the intersection. "Among other things, but it can wait. They have enough to chew on right now."

Winter accepted this with a small nod. "Fair enough. They gave us something to chew on, too. I want to know about the amulet that Gleeful boy had. And why his name keeps coming up. We should have a talk with him."

Before long they were heading back up the hill. Upon cresting it, both women tilted their heads at the additional vehicles near their mostly-clean house, all parked along the sidewalk. Dan Corduroy's muddy silver truck was among them, but the others were unfamiliar. After parking in the thankfully unblocked driveway, they emerged and looked around. While Wendy was audible around back, as was her father, the owners of the other vehicles were absent.

"Um... what's going on?" Summer asked, squinting at the cars as she tried to remember whether or not she'd seen them before.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Winter bolted for the front door with her sister in hot pursuit. What she found behind it nearly made their hearts leap from their chests. The living room was full of people, many of which they recognized from the party – and those familiar faces all had twinkling companions that night. The twins checked for golden lights, but found none.

"'Scuse me, but you're the ghost whisperers, right?" Lazy Susan asked, rising from the sofa to meet them. "We think we've got ghosts too! Can you help?" The rest of the crowd began to raise the same question.

Dumbfounded, Summer emitted a polite, but surprised noise and ushered her sister back out the door. She closed it and held it shut with her strength in case anyone tried to follow them out. "Looks like the Corduroys are hopeless at keeping their mouths shut," she grumbled angrily. "Sister! What do we do?!"

Winter let out a low, long sigh. "Answer what we can," she replied, looking at the door, "and lie about the rest. We're good at that."


	10. Everything You Know is Wrong

It was two PM by the time a tired Wendy arrived at the Mystery Shack. The stillness inside the gift shop was such that she figured she was the only one here. Going into the living room proved her wrong; Dipper, Mabel, and Soos were at the round table, all staring her down. "Uh... hey guys. What's happening?" she greeted them nervously. "Mister Pines got arrested, didn't he. I knew it was coming. What's he going away for?"

"Nah, he's still shopping in town," Dipper sighed. "Shut the door, would you?"

"Uh, sure." She took the last empty seat at the table after obliging him. "Am I about to be fired? Look, man, I gotta keep this job. I don't wanna end up cutting down trees for the Northwests all summer. That would seriously blow."

"Nobody's firing you," Mabel assured her. "...I mean none of _us_ are gonna fire you. I don't think we have the authority."

"And you're the only one Stan trusts with the money besides himself," Soos added. "Nah, dawg, this is _much_ weirder."

Dipper leaned closer, turning the seriousness up to eleven. "Wendy, what I'm about to tell you cannot, under any circumstances, leave this room. Understand?"

Something did leave: the color, from her cheeks. "Uh. You guys are starting to scare me," she admitted with a nervous smile.

Despite the boy's drama, it was Mabel who spilled the beans. "Winnie and Sue have superpowers!" she exclaimed. "They can move things with their minds! Change mushrooms to gold! All sorts of wacky junk!"

Her face went blank and stayed that way for some time. Then the laughs came, weakly at first. "Yeah. Sure. I know they look jacked, but come on, man."

"We're totally serious!" Mabel insisted. "We watched them do it. Dip's brain is still kinda broken."

"At one point I thought I might have turned into a banana," he confirmed with his hand raised.

"You're all serious?" She peered at Soos. "You saw 'em too?"

"I'm relying on trustworthy second-hand information," he replied, thumbing at the Pines. "If they say it happened, it happened. I don't put anything past this place."

"I was just at their house!" Wendy countered. "They weren't acting strange at all, just talkin' to every-" She became pallid again as her voice broke. "Uh... uh-oh."

"What?" Dipper rose and went to her side. "What? What happened? I don't wanna hear 'uh-oh' right now. Was there an explosion? Did somebody die?"

The redhead cocked a brow at him. "You really like to jump to the worst possible conclusion. Look, my dad _might_ have told some people that they talk to ghosts. Just a few. Like... twelve. And they all came over to their house."

"Holy cow," Mabel sighed, sinking nose-deep into the neck of her sweater. "And y'all call me a blabbermouth."

"Dang it! I'm gonna call them. Can I borrow your cellphone?" He dialed hastily after Wendy handed it over. "Oh man. Oh man... hello!" he yelped the moment the ringing stopped. "Which one of you—Winter! Hi!"

Wendy was a little confused. "Who's Winter?" she asked lowly.

"That's Winnie's actual name," Soos advised.

"Oh. Huh. Pretty... _cool_." The redhead emitted a self-satisfied chuckle – which Mabel strangled with displeased squinting. "Sheesh. I thought it was funny."

Meanwhile, Dipper was in his own little world, pacing around in front of the recliner. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Great. Good to hear. Yeah, we're all here now. Yes, I promise she won't tell. Right. Okay, I'll let you be. Huh? I mean, we can't _stop_ you, but Mabel's gonna hate it. Okay. Okay. No, no, we're fine. Uh huh. Gonna talk about it right now. Okay. Bye." He came back, relinquished the phone, and plopped into his chair. "I guess they told everybody what they wanted to hear. They're all gone."

Mabel, having heard her name come up, wanted to know why. "What am I gonna hate?" she asked suspiciously.

"Uh... they wanna talk to Gideon about the..." He froze, looking at Wendy. "Oh, you haven't heard this before. Welp. You better prepare yourself."

She shifted nervously. "For what?"

Groaning, Mabel slammed her arms together and explained. "He used a magical amulet thingy to try and turn Dipper into dork-goo. Made him able to do telika... talake... teeleekeenee..."

"Telekinesis," Dipper finally corrected her. "The power to manipulate objects with your mind. Winter and Summer seem to have that ability naturally."

"Are you friggin' kidding me?" Wendy laid her head on her arms and whimpered for a few seconds. "I wanna go home. I mean... home a few days in the past, when stuff was still stupid and boring."

"Well, we could have arran-" He squeaked with surprise as Mabel muffled him with a sleeve.

"Don't you dare," she warned. "This is gonna get bad enough. One thing at a time, or else you might kill the poor girl."

"Question," Soos interjected politely. "What exactly do our seasonally-named buddies want us to do? They've got all the _pow_ _eeeee_ _er._ " Everyone waited for his hands-to-the-sky dramatic posing, attached to the word 'power', to end.

Once it had Dipper leaned back, his demeanor becoming incredibly studious. So studious, in fact, Mabel groaned once more and tried to whack him. "Hey! I'm thinking, man!"

"I know that look, bro. Who died and put you in charge?" she fired back. "We ride _together_. As equals! Even if I'm better." They all looked toward Wendy, whose head was still down. "My bad. You don't have to ride. Are you okay in there?"

"Just give me a second," she moaned. When they proceeded to do just that by remaining silent and staring at her, she lifted her head. "You want an answer _now_?"

"Sort of," Dipper nodded. "If you say yes, then you'll get to read the journal and it might make you cry."

"But we'll be there for moral support!" Soos assured. Both he and Mabel gave her two thumbs up.

The redhead slumped back in her chair and muttered incoherently to herself for a moment. "Terrific. I... well, they did help dad. And it's not like I can unsee everything I already saw. Sure, why not? May as well find out how deep the rabbit hole goes," she concluded with a weak laugh.

"All right!" Mabel stood in her chair, pointing at the ceiling. "The first meeting of the..." Her face dropped. "The first meeting of the... Gravity Falls... hmm." She sat back down and suddenly looked as thoughtful as her brother. "Gravity Falls Investigation... nah. Mystery Incorporated? That's Scooby-Doo. Huh."

Dipper, emerging from his own reverie, rolled his eyes at her. "Right. Whatever our name is, we know stuff those two don't. And they probably know stuff _we_ don't. The way I see it, everyone can get something they want from working together. Besides, if anything tries to murder us, we've got way more firepower with them on our side."

"Murder us? Awesome," Wendy sighed. "It's been like three minutes and I'm already regretting this."

Soos flashed a smile while patting her on the shoulder. "Aw, don't be blue. Most of it's fun! Some of it isn't, gonna be honest. Okay, most might be a stretch. A large amount. A simple majority. A fair num—uh... I'd better shut up now."

"You'll be fine," Dipper assured her. "I think." Her glare caused an anxious chuckle. "No, no, you totally will! We'll all be fine. Nothing bad could possibly happen."

Mabel was still trying to come up with a title for their impromptu union. "Mystery Buddies?" she asked the ceiling, idly twirling her hair. "Pff. That's dumb."

"Look, just show me the journal," Wendy sighed. "And somebody order a pizza. Maybe some food will help me deal."

* * *

It was Winter, fresh off her phone call with Dipper, having a sullen moment in the passenger seat of the BMW this time. A glance was cast up at the pizzeria in front of her; Summer was visible through the plate-glass windows, seated and waiting for their pies to be completed. While seeing her drew a smile, looking back down at her palms snatched it away. "When they look like this, I almost feel... human," she murmured.

Someone walked by beyond the windshield and entered the shop. A middle-aged man with brown hair, extremely well-dressed, but that was all the mind she paid to him. The next thing to break her concentration was a gentle tapping on the window.

To her surprise, it was Pacifica. "Hey," the girl greeted awkwardly once the glass between them had dropped out of the way. "What's your name again? I know it starts with either an 'S' or a 'W'..."

The blue-eyed woman tilted her head curiously. "Winter." For a moment the car behind Pacifica caught her attention; it was a massive black sedan whose ostentatious nature was impossible to miss. Probably something made by Rolls-Royce, she decided. "What is it?"

"You talked to my mom earlier, didn't you?"

She called up the memory. Penelope Northwest's odd, semi-permanent smile was hard to forget, even if the rest of her features blended away into the fog of strangers asking her and Summer for solace. "I did. Why?"

Pacifica made a show of examining her fingernails. Her expression was almost dismissive, but Winter knew she was struggling with something regardless. "Oh. She just seemed, you know... happier, than usual. Said you helped a lot. That's all." The blonde would go no deeper, and instead let her eyes run over the red sedan. "You buy cars as often as I buy shoes. I like your style."

"It's my sister's," she said quietly. "Was there something else you wanted?"

"Nope. See you around," she replied with a smile – and then failed to walk away. Her eyes became more and more pensive with every passing second. "I mean..."

Winter's gaze remained on her all the while. "Yes?"

"Uh, nothing. Thanks or whatever. For helping my mom."

Her tone was astonishing in its fragility, but Winter managed to prevent herself from letting Pacifica _know_ that. "You're welcome." She considered the conversation over, but the blonde continued to hang around. "...what?"

She sighed, tossing her ponytail. "Listen, you two seem like private people, so here's a heads up: the TV station wants to do an interview with you."

Winter cocked a brow. "How do you know that?"

At last, the blonde put on a grin that seemed to match her personality. "We own the TV station."

She rubbed her face and sighed lightly. "Of course. Can we say no?"

"Sure, but they've probably got enough by now to do the story anyway." Pacifica looked over as the man from before came back out, holding three pizza boxes. "About time. I'm out. See you around."

Summer arrived with their own order seconds after the black limousine departed, filling the interior with all sorts of pleasant aromas. "This all smells so good! I know it's pointless for us to eat, but it sure can be fun." She handed the boxes to her sister and went about buckling up, only to stop when Winter didn't say anything. "Hello?" she called, looking over. "You're quiet. What did that Pacifica girl want? I saw you two chatting."

"To say thanks. And Dipper called. They're talking about our request." Her eyes were planted firmly ahead. "Sister, we might have a... problem."

"Oh no. Our visit here has been so very trouble free," she grumbled sarcastically. "What is it this time?"

Winter extracted her phone from her jeans pocket. "Pacifica told me the TV station wants an interview. You need to learn our last name."

She snapped her fingers in frustration – then paused to make sure nothing around her had changed – and sighed. "I knew that woman was a reporter! Can't we say no?"

"We could, but then we might look suspicious. I mean, even more than we already might." Her thumbs were hard at work, tapping away on the screen. "Let's go home before we somehow become national news."

"Oh boy." Summer started the car and looked back over her shoulder while preparing to leave. "So much for being incognito."

Winter's eyes narrowed, though she did allow herself to take a curious sniff of the pizza in her lap. "Right. As long as we don't become famous for _other_ reasons, I think we can handle this."

* * *

As the day dragged on, Mabel would peek into the living room to keep an eye on Wendy. The latest such check revealed her staring off into space with bags under her eyes. Her face was white as a sheet. The redhead was still seated at the round table, as she had been since Dipper showed her the contents of the journal. Wincing, she withdrew back into the gift shop and walked over to her brother at the register. "Uh, bro? I think we killed her."

He blinked with surprise. "Is she _still_ sitting there?"

"Yep. Doesn't look good." They looked over as Stan lead a fresh herd of suckers through the curtain. "Oh boy. I'll handle these guys, you go see to your girlfriend."

Dipper gave her a grateful smile at first. "Thanks—wait. She's not my girlfriend." Grumbling at her laughter, he hopped down, squirted through the throng, and nearly fell into the living room. He gingerly approached the redhead, almost too scared to speak at first. "Wendy? Hey? You with me? Weeeeeendy..." She didn't respond at all, not even when he sat in the chair next to her and waved a hand before her face. "Earth to Wendy Corduroy. Wendy. Come on, now." He searched his brain for something to prod her with. "Oh no, Robbie's here!"

"I'm n-not around," she finally whimpered, although her body stayed locked in position. "I..."

"Oh boy." There was no choice now; he reached over and latched on to a shoulder. "Wendy. Wendy," he urged, shaking her gently. "Wendy, come on. It's almost five o'clock. Your dad's gonna be worried if you don't call, isn't he? Won't he come over here and kill Grunkle Stan?" At last she turned to regard him with empty eyes. "That a girl. You're alive. It's okay."

"I live in a nightmare," she breathed. "How can I... gnomes? Freakin' gnomes! The triangle dude! A squash that feels! _The fishing fish_!" It was too much. She began to break down, dropping her face into her hands.

"Oh boy." Dipper wrapped her up in an awkward hug, wondering how long he could stay conscious before all the blood rushed to his cheeks. "It's okay. I mean, hey! We haven't even seen most of the stuff in there. Nope. No zombies for miles!" He winced at her sudden sobbing. "Whoa, what? What did I say?"

Wendy blew her nose on his hat before answering. "What if I'm a zombie, man?!"

While the act grossed him out, he maintained his cool. "Um, I kind of doubt you're a zombie. You're too chill." He tried to reassure her with a stilted laugh. Surprisingly, it worked; she stopped weeping and took a few deep breaths. "See? You're fine. Totally fine."

She gently extracted herself and slumped over onto the table. "How do you guys handle this crap?"

"Honestly, on my end? Constant exposure to Mabel." She laughed this time, causing him to smile. "I'm serious. You spend enough time around her, you can smile at anything."

"Heh. I'll take your word for it, I guess," she mumbled, wiping her eyes. "I thought the _ghosts_ were bad. This other junk is a whole new level of weird."

Dipper spread his arms wide. "Yeah, yeah it is. But! Look around. The world's still here. So what if it feels completely different? It's still Gravity Falls."

That was just enough to make her smile. "True. And even if it is insane, still not as depressing as findin' out about what happened... back in the day." She perked up, but thinking of that particular tragedy forced a shudder. "Yeesh."

"No kidding." He backed off a bit to let her breathe some more. "You all right?"

Wendy offered a weak shrug. "I'll get there. I... I think." Her progress at the moment was limited to drifting over to, and sitting in, the old recliner. "Phew." The news was coming on. "Yeah! This'll help," she grumbled derisively. "Where's the remote?"

He walked over to help her look. "We still have a remote? I haven't seen the stupid thing in days." While they searched, the dulcet tones of the Channel 7 Action Express News Team's theme song provided a nice, numbing background noise for them to ignore – until the top story began. A picture of the destroyed hospital, surrounded by the crews working to clean it up, caught their eyes.

"Wait, what?" She turned up the volume manually and sat on the carpet. Dipper joined her a moment later. "Man, this topic just ain't gonna die, is it."

"Our lead today: human remains have been discovered in the ruins of the former General Hospital building," Shandra Jimenez said gravely. The image switched from the studio to a live look at the scene. "Authorities would not comment on the number, only that 'there's more than one' and 'it is kind of icky in there'."

The rest of the brief piece was lost to Wendy's disdainful groan. "Ugh! That place is cursed!"

"Ahaha, y-yeah! Sure is!" Dipper smiled anxiously at her curious glance. "What? I didn't do anything suspicious up there a few days ago. Nothing happened. Nope."

Her brow raised slightly. "Uh... if you say so."

Shandra interjected before he could dig himself into a bigger hole. "In more positive news..."

"Yes!" they both shouted. "Come on! Daddy needs a cute dog on a unicycle!" he added hopefully.

"Oh yeah? I want a-" Wendy fell silent and looked down at him, her face screwed up. "Did you just call yourself daddy?"

"Wha—no I did not. Not at all."

"Gravity Falls' newest residents are causing a stir with their general politeness and apparent ability to speak with the dead," Shandra explained cheerfully. A picture of the identical twins, standing in front of the red BMW, appeared over her left shoulder as she spoke. "Summer and Winter Weiss, seen here looking absolutely _fabulou_ _s_ , have taken the town by storm. This reporter has it on good authority that not only are the Weiss sisters even richer than our own Preston Northwest, they're also not complete jerks."

The screen switched again, this time to Lazy Susan being interviewed in the diner. "You can talk to them like real people!" she praised. "They even gave me a hug! I like hugs!"

Next up was an interview with Toby Determined outside of the _Gravity Falls Gossiper_ building. "Bless those unnervingly athletic girls," he said, dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. "Summer said I looked cute in my glasses. I haven't been called cute in fourteen years!" After a quick breath, he tacked on a hasty, whispered, " _ShandraI'vealwayslovedyoupleasecallme_!"

The screen came back to the woman of his affection, who shivered with disgust. "But that's not all. Several people – including this reporter – paid a visit to the Weiss residence earlier today in hopes of receiving help with deeply uncomfortable spiritual issues."

"Is this getting really weird for you?" Wendy asked, leaning away from the TV.

Dipper shook his head. "In the context of today? No, not really."

Dan Corduroy popped up on screen. It looked like he was being interviewed in front of the family cabin. "I told you they could talk to ghosts! They knew things, man. Makes you feel real good. Not like the troll boy. No, no, these two have a _real_ gift. They probably don't even spy on us, either."

Shandra appeared again, smiling brightly. "You said it, Manly Dan." A new graphic appeared over her left shoulder – this time it was the child psychic with a red 'x' over his face. "There's been a groundswell of support for the Weiss sisters to host nightly séances on the site of the Tent of Telepathy, formerly owned by humiliated fraud Gideon Gleeful."

Another interview was next, this time with the twins themselves. They were standing next to their car. "I appreciate everyone's... support," Winter said, "but I don't know if we'd do such a thing."

"But we would like to thank everyone who said nice things about our house!" Summer added cheerfully.

Back to Shandra the broadcast went. "Aren't they adorable? You can be sure the Action Express News Team will keep an eye on these two and/or hound them into doing a full one-hour special interrog—I mean interview!"

"Wooooooo!" Mabel screamed from the recliner behind them, tossing the remote in one hand. Waddles was in her lap.

Wendy and Dipper nearly jumped out of their skins. "H-how did you get in here?!" the redhead asked breathlessly.

"I walked. Sure is nice to see everyone warming up to our new buddies, right?" she grinned. "Heeeeee, I bet that got Gideon's goat real good. I almost wish I could see his face."

Dipper had a hand on his chest to calm down. "Maybe, but goat-getting aside, _stop scaring me_ _half to death_."

"Nope!" Mabel slid off and whistled for her pig. "Come on, cutie! Let's go knit!"

Wendy stared after her as she left. "Man, this stuff just rolls off her like water off a duck's back."

"Most of it does." He decompressed with a sigh. "So, uh, you still in? With the... ugh." Just thinking of the name Mabel had forcibly assigned their little group made him pause and groan again. "...Super Mystery Brothers?"

"I guess." She watched for a moment as the sports portion of the news came on. "If they're really as strong as you said, I'd rather be on their side than not, you know? And I kinda owe 'em for dad, I think."

"All right. Hey, at least we know their surname now. I bet you could do a full background check!" He snickered a little. "Heck, I'll do—er, on second thought, based on how my last internet search went, I'd better not."

Wendy shook her head with a smile. "Pfff. Don't worry. I'm sure they're cool." She gave him a hearty pat on the back and stood. "I'm done, yo. See you tomorrow!"

He gave her a thumbs up. "You bet!" Once he was alone, he looked around with an idle smile. "You know, besides the whole superpowers thing, it might be nice to have someone around to knock the Northwests down a peg. I think that's something we can all get behind."

* * *

If he could see the identical twins at this moment, Grunkle Stan would have been proud. They sat on the sofa, cloning bills from the currency the grateful strangers foisted upon them after their so-called séance. Summer snapped dollars out of the discarded pizza boxes, while Winter made sure none of the serial numbers were duplicates.

"I can't believe you named us after a color," the red-eyed woman muttered.

Winter, busy peering at a twenty, then at her laptop to make sure it appeared correct, frowned a bit. "You said it was fun to say."

"It is! But 'white'? It's kind of dull."

"That's not all it means." She set the bill on a large stack of similar currency. "I think we have enough. We'll keep the gold in reserve, just in case."

Summer dusted off her hands and relaxed against the back of the couch. "Okay. What's next?"

"I'm content to wait on Dipper and Mabel. What about you?"

Her eyes began to wander, but her sight was focused on the presence beyond the walls. "Maybe we shouldn't wait. We could sweep this place in a night. Or less."

Winter folded her arms and sighed. "You're eager."

She didn't yield, and ended up sounding almost exactly like her sister. "I want to help our friends in the pit."

"And we will. Be patient. There's a lot of collateral damage we could cause by acting without thinking."

It was around this time that she understood the source of her sister's restraint – or perhaps reluctance. "I... what happened to _you_ that day?"

Head hung, Winter rose from the couch and walked to one of the large front windows. Her gaze eventually came to rest on the Northwest mansion, looming in the evening light above Gravity Falls like a medieval lord's castle. "I ceded sense to fear. I had to stop what was happening around me, and in the course of succeeding I altered countless lives. I might have saved them, but I murdered their future in the process. I left them with... who knows what."

Overcome with emotion, Summer stood up and approached. "The alternative would have been bloody beyond imagination!"

"It may yet be. We don't know what's happening."

Having no comeback, she resorted to throwing herself at Winter and clamping on tight. "You don't know it will."

She returned the hug with equal strength. "True. I won't let the same thing happen here, though. Not if I can help it."

"I understand. I'll be good." Summer pulled away with a light smirk. "Still. White? Can we change our name?"

Winter rolled her eyes a little, but she too was smiling. "No. I already told you, it means something else."

"What?"

"Roughly?" She walked past and sat down again. "It translates to 'knows'."

"Huh. Summer knows," she pointed at herself, "and Winter knows," she concluded, pointing at her. "Clever. But we're not the only ones."

"We're the only ones with the whole truth," she countered. "We should catch a nap while we can. I want to get started tomorrow."

"Okay." She also sat down and sighed. "You know... we'll have to tell them about the hospital 'ghosts' some time or another."

Winter nodded once and let her head tilt back. "That's the plan for in the morning, actually. It's best to do it sooner rather than later."


	11. He Really is That Short

The next morning was a Saturday, so when Winter and Summer arrived at the Mystery Shack all was quiet. In fact, it appeared as if everyone in the house was asleep. A relaxing, pleasant silence soaked the clearing, marred slightly by the persistent hum only they could detect and the singing of a few birds.

"I told you it was too early," Summer muttered. "It's a weekend. People like to sleep on weekends."

Winter ignored her, choosing instead to glare through the driver's side window. "It's eight o'clock. They have to wake up sometime."

"Just because _we_ rise so early doesn't mean everyone else does."

Grumbling, she relented to that fact and opened her door. "Fine. Let's go check on our friends in the pit while no one is watching."

On this occasion their entry into the abyss was far more graceful. Summer tumbled in, giggling happily, while Winter decided on a swan dive. This time, the presence didn't try to push them back out, so they had to use their own power as a parachute. Once they reached bottom, it coalesced into the same rainbow blob as before – but now it was scattered through with golden sparkles.

"What are you doing here?" Winter asked them as they flew happily around her head in spite of the vicious, swirling wind.

Summer listened for the answer. "Oh, you found out during the party? Well, that's nice. You've got lots of friends now."

"Mm. How are you holding up?" She nodded a few times at varying intervals while listening. "We know. It's very easy to stick together here. I'm surprised the ground we walk on doesn't warp on contact."

"What if it does?" Summer pondered. She took off her red wedge sandals, frowning when the soles of her feet touched the frigid rock. "It's cold, but it's still rock."

"Good to know." Winter poked at the opalescent cloud. "We haven't forgotten about you. Just be patient with us." A smile appeared as the blob tried to hug them both. "You're welcome. I'm happy the little ones have found a home."

"Yes!" Summer agreed, slipping her shoes back on. "Now if we can just figure out why you were in the hospital in the first place... and why there's magic everywhere else..."

She scratched at her ebony hair with a sigh. "And how to get it home. I wish I knew how to approach Stan besides just asking him. Or tearing the place apart."

"You know, sometimes there's no substitute for a punch!" Winter's annoyed glance made her smile. "You get my point. I don't want to upend Dipper and Mabel's lives by flattening their home either."

"Especially since it seems someone may have tried that before." The blue-eyed woman waved toward the surface as a thought occurred. "Before we go, how long have you been down here?" She frowned at the answer. "Makes sense. I suppose it _would_ be hard to tell time in a place like this. I was just curious. We're heading up. Hang in there."

The blob bounced happily and faded away, taking the gold twinkles with it into the darkness. As it had the last time, it gave the twins a powerful boost back toward the surface, but now they rode it full speed all the way to the top until they shot from the pit like cannonballs. They slowed to a stop about fifty feet above the clearing, scouring it for witnesses. Upon seeing none, they dropped to the earth and started for their car. "So, what? Do we just sit out here and wait for them?" Summer inquired on the way.

"I've got nothing better to do, do you?"

"Hey!"

The twins looked around for the source of the greeting; it was Dipper's voice, but he was nowhere to be found until they looked up. He waved to them from a platform halfway up the roof, then took a sip from a can of Pitt. "Nice morning, huh? What's up? Wait... did something bad happen?"

"No," Winter assured him loudly. She nodded to her sister. "Come on." They flung themselves into the air, easily reaching his perch.

"Gah!" he yelped, stumbling back as they landed. "You can do that! You did it!"

"Well, yes, why couldn't we?" Summer asked curiously. "We can affect ourselves. We _are_ made of matter."

"I guess that makes sense." He caught his breath and sat on the lounge chair. "So, what _is_ up? I mean, besides you guys. Ha! Heh."

Winter brushed his joke aside with a frown. "May as well get this over with... we want to look into something. You might want to come along."

"You probably _won't_ like it, though," her sister added.

Dipper's brow furrowed deeply. "I already don't. What?"

"The hospital."

He stared at them in disbelief. "Why? It's over. It collapsed. The ghosts are free. We are _done_ there. I don't think Mabel could handle revisiting it. I don't think _I_ can."

Summer nodded forlornly. "I know, but what we saw weren't ghosts. At least, we're pretty sure. They felt like little wisps of the same power we have."

"Ah—bu—what? What would they be... why would... frack!" he exploded, not sounding too different from his sister when she would lose her cool the same way. "Oh. Oh boy. If they were the same, then... what does that mean?"

"We have no idea," Winter replied, sitting on the edge of the platform. Her sister followed suit shortly afterward. "It seems to be the oldest unusual phenomenon in Gravity Falls. At least, that we know of. It could be a good place to start."

"Yeah." Dipper ran fingers through his hair while thinking. "If the Duskertons were right, that creep started murdering kids in the 1940s. Ugh. I feel sick."

"Do you think _he_ might have a ghost we could talk to?" Summer asked. "I wonder where he's buried. Nothing I looked at ever said."

There was no getting away from the topic now, but he still pouted and groaned about it a little longer. "Depends on where he died."

Winter glanced back at him over her shoulder. "In the prison."

"Really? I think... I think I saw something on Gideon's stupid reality show about how they have a prisoner cemetery. If the family doesn't want the body, they end up burying them there."

"Hmm. We could have a chat with him while we're there," Winter decided.

Dipper fell back onto the lounge chair with a sigh. "Just when I thought I couldn't hate this idea more."

Summer's face screwed up. "Eh, maybe we should fly solo together on this one, sister."

"Fly solo... together?" he blinked. "I know it's twinspeak, it just seems weird not hearing it from Mabel."

"Hearing what from me?" They looked over as she emerged from the entry, still clad in her sleep shirt and halfway falling as she got up off the ladder. It looked like a hurricane had been spinning in her mousy locks. "Hey, don't judge my bedhead. I gotta lot of hair to manage."

"I'm not," he assured her. Winter opened her mouth to speak, but he waved her off. "I got it, I got it. Hey, Mabel, it looks like we might have our first investigation."

She perked up while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Ooo! I'm exc—give me a second." A massive yawn split her mouth wide open. "... okay, maybe like a minute."

"They wanna go to the state prison and look at the graveyard."

Her mood darkened in a flash. "Ew. Why? I don't wanna be that close to him. Wait, is he getting transferred to the Moon or something? 'Cause heck yeah, I'd go just to laugh at his stupid face."

"I'm afraid not," Winter cut in. "We want to see if the doctor responsible for the deaths of those children is buried there. And... we want to have a talk with Gideon if possible."

"Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu..." Mabel stammered, lip trembling. "I'm... I'm gonna go lie back down and cry if you don't mind."

"You don't have to go," Dipper reassured her. "She doesn't have to go, does she? Do I?"

"Mm." Winter crossed her arms and frowned. "I'm not sure they'll let us into the cemetery. We might have to break in."

Summer couldn't help but snicker. "Breaking into a prison? Oh. I've done stranger things, I guess."

"Why do you even care?" Mabel demanded sleepily. "I mean, I had just kinda forgotten a little bit about Jerkface McBabykiller."

"Because the things we saw apparently weren't ghosts, they were magic, and they want to know why – actually the more I think about it the more I kinda want to know too," Dipper realized. "Has there been magic in Gravity Falls for fifty years? Seventy? Longer?"

"Good question." Winter rested her elbows on her knees and looked up at the misty blue sky. "Maybe it originates with the fairies. Maybe not. Either way, I'd like to know."

He slumped in thought. "That entry was from... what, June of 1963? Ew, what a coincidence. Granted, that might be just the first time someone saw them and recorded it, though." A glance at Mabel made his head tilt. She seemed to be out on her feet. "Hey. Hey? You still with me?"

"I'm listening," she grunted. "Magic baby fairies founded Gravity Falls in 1963. Got it." She began to tip, so Dipper stood up and eased her down onto the floor. "This bed sucks even worse than I remem—zzzz..."

Dipper smiled at her snoring. "Why does she even bother? I'm the early bird. She's the... I don't even know what kind of bird she is."

"How cute!" Summer giggled. Even Winter had to smirk. "You sleep. Winter and I will handle this."

"All right. Hey, ah, would you..." His voice got low. "Would you turn Gideon into a frog? If possible. And for the love of Nobel take a picture."

"If no one's looking," Winter agreed with a faint grin. "We might get mad at him if he's as bad as it seems."

"Oh, trust me, he's the worst. Good luck – wait!" His heart jumped into his throat as they pushed themselves off the roof abruptly. Upon running over and looking down, however, he saw they were just fine. "Oh, yeah. You're superheroes or sorceresses or whatever. Never mind," he grumbled with amazement, watching as they walked toward their car.

* * *

While Summer drove through Gravity Falls, Winter used her phone to learn as much about the State Prison as possible. Every pause for a red light brought curious looks or happy waves from the passersby. A few even took pictures.

"They're so happy to see us," Summer pointed out with a smile. "Maybe fame isn't so bad."

Her sister didn't even look up. "Perhaps. For now."

"...you are such a pessimist."

"I'm realistic. You will be too, one of these days." Her eyes lit up. "There are visiting hours from noon to four PM each day. It shouldn't be hard to get in if the IDs we forged are sufficient."

She nodded along with the music from the radio. "I'll let you make sure of that. What would be plan B?"

"It's not like the fence can stop us."

Summer grinned brightly. "How exciting."

Their journey continued north, past the affluent areas and onto a winding road surrounded by evergreens. Winter was too busy mining for information to speak much; her sister was too busy enjoying the drive. "Hold on," the blue-eyed woman said. "I've found a list of people buried at the prison."

"Oh?"

Her face dropped with annoyance. "Our man isn't on it."

Summer let off the gas slightly, as if unsure whether the trip was still worth making. "Well then. We can still talk to Gideon, right?"

She shrugged her agreement and put her phone away. "Might as well. He has _some_ relationship with the Pines. Let's go see what it is."

After a few minutes more of wandering through the evergreens, their destination came into view. Formed from the most depressing-looking concrete that Oregon had to offer, Gravity Falls State Prison was somehow less cheerful than the pictures suggested. Even the trees surrounding it seemed to be dulled gray. There was a guard in the sole tower, and the whole complex was wrapped up in the tender embrace of the tallest, beefiest chain-link fence they'd yet seen. In fact, as they got closer, a sign proclaimed it to be electrified.

"Have you ever been electrocuted?" Winter asked as they drove past that sign.

She hesitated to arrange the memories before replying with a nod. "A couple of times. It makes you feel a little weird."

"Maybe I'll grab the fence just to see what it's like. Let's drive by and see what the security situation is."

"Sure."

What she found wasn't encouraging. Cameras were mounted on almost every corner, along with a few searchlights. Guards with dogs – and shotguns – patrolled the perimeter fence on both sides. The top of the fence bore dense spirals of razor wire. "Well, this is annoying. If they do a background check and find out we don't technically exist..." Her face went blank. "Then again, nobody seemed to mind my shady nature when I purchased the house."

Summer squinted at the curves ahead. "Gold blinds people, I think. I'm going to pull off up here."

"All right. Give me your license." She took it and, along with her own, compared it to a picture on her phone. "It all looks like it's in order." Her eyes glanced over all the details – she paid special attention to the address listed to make sure she had it right. "I've never seen a place so driven by documentation," she groaned. In short order, though, a thought made her smile. "I take that back. I've seen _one_ place."

Her sister knew exactly which and started to laugh. "No kidding! She'd be right at home here."

Winter joined her in giggling for a moment. "Oh, I needed that. Let's just see what happens. As long as we can get in, we can move around and cause enough confusion to draw attention away from ourselves."

They decided to leave their car for the meantime and walk briskly back to the prison. The sparks of Gravity Falls were clustered in the distance off to their right, still easily detectable due to the utter lack of anything else nearby. Despite the blue sky above, the air was heavy and grave. "How... pleasant," Summer said quietly. The guardhouse protecting the front gate of the prison was just ahead. "Here goes nothing."

Winter shook her head once. "Not yet. It's too early for them to let us in, but we can at least get a feel for the process." They peeked in through the window, where a male guard sat reading a newspaper.

"Visiting hours start at noon," he droned. And that was it, even after the twins stood there for a moment.

"Oh." Winter, blank-faced, walked away from the prison. Summer only followed a few seconds later. "I'm underwhelmed."

"Seriously." Sound from behind drew their attention. The gate opened for a bus leaving the complex, which paused at the guardhouse. After waiting on it to move for a few seconds, they gave up and kept walking. "Now what?"

Winter just shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose we wait."

"Mrm." Summer looked up as the bus drove past. A particularly pasty-faced boy with enormous white hair caught her eye. "Wait... isn't that..."

All she needed was a glance to confirm it. "Get to the car!" she commanded, breaking into a dash. By staying close to the side and using little bursts of power to keep up their speed, they managed to arrive at their BMW just as the bus did. Summer slapped the car into gear with surprising haste. "You're getting good at this."

"I had a good teacher," Summer replied, smiling at her as she put pedal to metal. The chase was on. Because of the sensation the twins knew the bus was heading back toward Gravity Falls, but not the same way they'd used to leave it. This road had fewer curves and a distinct downward pitch – and seemingly even less traffic. After a few minutes of driving through the endless trees, the bus came to a stop in a small park. 'Park' might have been generous; it was more or less a large clearing with four picnic tables and a small brick building near the back. Summer brought the car to rest a distance away.

"That's definitely him," Winter said, watching about twenty guards usher six prisoners, including Gideon, toward the center of the area. "What's going on?"

"I have no..." she paused as cameramen emerged from the bus. "Oh! That show!"

Her eyes narrowed as she opened the door. "Well, the audience will have to wait."

"All right, friends!" Gideon called over the general murmurs of the crowd. "As soon as daddy gets here – and heaven help me, if there's nuts in that ice cream again I will _destroy_ him – we can begin the filming!" When he glanced over and saw the twins coming, his tone became a lot less friendly. "I thought this place was cleared! Get them out of here! Now! _Nooooooooow_!"

"Uh, this is a public park," one of the guards advised nervously.

"And?" he snapped back. "My tax dollars paid for it! I'm still Gravity Falls' biggest industry and I'm in _jail_! I own you! I own everything!"

"You don't own us," Winter interrupted loudly. All eyes went to them as they stepped closer. "I thought the photos were kidding. Where's the rest of your skeleton?" she asked.

Gideon waddled closer, a bitter sneer on his face. "Oh! Oho. Gravity Falls' new hotness is here to lord their supremacy over poor little ol' me. Ghosts? Is that the best you've got? Please." The other prisoners, who ranged from huge and burly to even more huge and burly, all collected at his back to offer support.

Summer grinned at their snarling. "Oh no. You're all so big and very, very frightening."

"Oh, darling, you might have the guns, but I have the firepower," he snickered, motioning to the armed guards.

Winter crossed her arms and glared. "We just want to talk for a moment."

"About what? I've nothin' to say to you."

They sprung their trap after sharing a glance. "Not even about Stan Pines?" Summer asked.

"Hmm?" He turned and waved at the other inmates to hush them. "Hold on, boys, hold on. You wanna talk to me about Stanford? Well. Color me curious." After thinking on it a moment, he shrugged. "Why not, there's time to kill. Take five!" He started toward one of the tables. "We'll chat over here. Ghost-Eyes, you keep them in line for me."

"You got it, dog!"

"All right then," he wheezed, once they were all seated. It had taken him much longer to get on the bench. "I gotta stop skippin' leg day. Goodness me." Their looks made him glare. "Don't judge! We all can't look like statues."

"Whatever," Winter sighed. "Let's get to the point."

Gideon tented his fingers and attempted to seize control of the conversation. "Stanford. Why would you care about him, hmm? Unless..." His eyes lit up. "Oh my, is he _your_ competition now?"

"Maybe he is," Summer answered with a dark grin. Winter had to fight hard not to roll her eyes at the show.

Just like that, the polite Gideon had returned. "And you want me to spill what I know? Gladly. I'd give back my American Association of People That People Are Pretty Sure Are Psychics Award just to see him burn." He leaned back as if relaxing into a chair, nearly fell off, and yelped while catching himself. "B-beg your pardon... what do you want to know?"

"Why do you hate him so much?" Winter asked.

He waved a hand and huffed. "Hate's a strong word. We've been business rivals for a long time, but I never really—I'm lyin'. I hate him. I hate him something fierce. He has something I want."

Summer tilted her head. "What? His house is a pile of junk and his car's probably older than both of us combined."

"What I'm after isn't monetary, it's... something else." He would go no farther and looked away. "You wouldn't understand."

"We talk to ghosts. Try us."

Gideon blinked at Summer's assertion. "You're... serious? You can't be. Nobody can talk to ghosts. Don't be ridiculous."

Sensing she needed to give him something to get anywhere, Winter leaned forward and whispered, "We know about the journals. We know you had one."

His demeanor changed yet again, landing somewhere between shocked and friendly. "Well, well. I suppose you're more than pretty faces and colored contacts, aren't you?" He tilted closer to Summer. "I do like the red. Suits you. I oughta try some when I get out. Add a little flair to my persona."

Her face screwed up with disdain. "Can we talk about what we're talking about, please? I heard you tried to kill the Pines."

"Only once! And I only really wanted to kill that _boy_." He crossed his arms and pouted, though the look faded with time. "I don't think shrinking someone counts as trying to kill them. I'm sure my lawyers would agree. Now I admit, the robot situation is a little bit more prickly, but..."

Winter was glowering by this point. She nudged her sister for attention. "We're getting nowhere. Let's just wipe them all out and search the Shack."

"D-don't you dare hurt Mabel!" Gideon squeaked angrily. "Feel free to kill the rest of them, of course – heck, have my blessing and send me some pictures – but you leave my queen alone!"

His outburst had given time for Summer to catch onto the act. "They obviously have something we want. If they won't play nice, we'll just take it from them."

There was no stopping the tantrum. "No! It's mine! It's mine!" He panted with agitation for several seconds. "Listen, we can work together. I'll be out in a month or two. They can't possibly stop the three of us! With your biceps and my cute-as-the-Dickens chubby cheeks, we can do anything!"

Winter stared him down. "We'll consider it. In the meantime, we were wondering about something else. You've heard about the General Hospital, I assume."

Gideon shuddered with disgust. "I hear whispers. Hmm... if you'll leave the shack – and Mabel – alone, I'll give you a ghost tip: I know for a fact the _good doctor_ was secretly buried in the cemetery in Gravity Falls. Not too far from a lot of his victims, either. They say he haunts the place." He paused to glare at a ladybug crawling up the arm of his orange jumper. "It's almost ironic. You've no idea the amount of hush money I've gotten to keep that little tidbit quiet." As he snickered, a car pulled in and distracted him. "Daddy's here, so I'm afraid I must be off. It was such a... pleasure meeting you both. Bye for now!"

They didn't return his goodbye and walked straight back to their car. Once inside, they watched the camera crew get set up. "Now we _know_ something's in the Mystery Shack," Winter sighed.

"True. And we have a new place to visit." Summer buckled up with a smile – and then lost her chipper mood. "Hrng. I didn't like being mean, even if it was an act. I'd never hurt them. You know that, right?"

Winter squeezed her hand. "Of course. I wouldn't either."

"We've come such a long way." They pondered the cheerful, puffy clouds in silence. "...but we still have a long way to go. Then again, I read something about how even long journeys begin with a single step."

The blue-eyed woman cocked a brow. "You read?"

"Sure. You like it so much, I started doing it too." Now the smiles were back. "I think we're bonding."

"Mm. I suppose our vacation isn't a total loss after all." She smirked as Summer began to drive back to town. "Let's see what Mabel and Dipper say about tagging along."

"We're going there now?"

"No, I don't want all of Gravity Falls snooping. We'll wait until nightfall." She drew her phone, dialed and put it on speaker.

"Mystery Shack!" Mabel greeted loudly. "Pay for six eyeballs and the seventh is free!"

The twins groaned with disgust. "It's us," Summer advised. "You're open on Saturday?"

"We sure are! It's our biggest 'volume day', whatever that means. I don't think it's any louder than any other day, but what do I know? I'm too busy being awesome. What's up?"

"Summer and I are going to pay a visit to the cemetery tonight. Are you two interested?"

"Hrm. Why? No, wait, the reason's gonna make me sad, isn't it."

Winter's shoulders slumped a bit. "It is about that, yes."

"Nope! Nope, nope, heck nope. I ain't talking to anyone about that anymore, dead or alive. Forget it. Don't wanna, not happening, good night and good luck, sisters." Dipper was barely audible in the background. "They're going to the graveyard, bro. Yeah, it's about _that_. I'm not going. Are you?" There was a pause. "He's not going if I'm not. Sorry."

"It's all right, I understand. We can handle it alone." Her blue eyes widened. "While I've got you... I should confess. We can't actually talk to ghosts."

"Y'all are fakin' it?! Hold on." Some odd sounds came next, including a muffled conversation between the Pines.

Dipper spoke next, and his words were stern. "You told us you've always heard the voices of the dead. Which is it?"

"Oh, we do!" Summer assured him. "But, um... it's complicated. And it..." Her voice began to break. "It hurts."

His wince was almost audible. "Okay okay no no wait, wait, don't cry! You can explain later. Or not. You don't have to. But thanks for being honest. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she lied, wiping her eyes to see the road. Winter looked just as forlorn, though she managed to stave off tears.

"Good, good. Sorry. Listen, we're still burnt out about the—the stuff. I didn't mean to sound snippy."

"It's all right," Winter assured him again. "We'll tell you what we learned tomorrow, if you want."

"Uh, maybe. I gotta go, Stan's giving me that 'I want to draw angrily on your face with permanent marker' look again. Later."

"Okay. Goodbye." The second she hung up, Summer began to sob. "Pull over before you hurt someone, please."

She obeyed, having just enough sense left to make it to the shoulder and put the car in park before her emotions came apart. "It's always there!" she screamed, crumpling in half until her head rested on the wheel. "Always in the back of my mind! My brain is _never_ quiet!"

"Neither is mine," was all Winter had to offer. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

"And then it says it's sorry and it's not my fault... it tries to help me feel better." She gasped for air, only to spend the breaths on more bitter weeping. "How do you deal with it? You never cry."

Oh how she tried to keep calm, but the sadness poured forth anyway. "I don't cry as loudly, no," she joked weakly, trying in vain to deflect her anguish. "I've accepted what I've become. That doesn't mean I accept what those two _did_ to me."

"If I hadn't... if..." Summer fell back in the seat and stared ahead. "We survived being lost. Everything else..."

"Is _their_ fault? That's how I feel."

An icy silence fell for several moments. Summer placed a hand on her stomach and started to rub. "Sometimes I wonder if this stuff is the only thing keeping me sane."

"Maybe so. We have enough to battle with, don't you think? Don't fight something that's always been a part of you."

Summer looked over and blinked; Winter was just as much a red-faced wreck as she, and yet there was a tiny smile on her face. "What?"

She turned away and stared out the side window. "There was a time I hated it too. It just wants to help you. Let it."

"I..." While the tears had stopped flowing, the space they left was quickly filled by a cold lump of sadness. Soon, that became disgust. "They really did do this to us. I think understand why you hate them."

"Mm. Look on the bright side, though."

"What bright side?!"

Winter turned back, staring her directly in the eyes. "At least we're no longer suffering through it alone."


	12. Infamy

Her frown persisted even as the sun began to retreat over the cliffs and trees. Mulling was something Winter did a lot, but her sister never was the type to hold it in for so long. "Are you sure you're all right?" she finally asked.

Summer, on the other end of the sofa, just shrugged. "I'm feeling thoughtful, is all."

"What are you thinking about?"

"It keeps... I..." She swallowed her thoughts in hopes of spitting up something coherent. "I only want three things. Two of them I know I can never have, and I've come to terms with those. But I'm surrounded by the third and it drives me crazy sometimes."

Winter had a good guess, but checked anyway. "What's the third?"

"To be normal."

"Oh." She slumped over until her arms were on her thighs. "I've been there."

Summer dabbed at her eyes again and sighed. "I almost feel ashamed. I should be happy with what I have. I have you. I have a _few_ friends."

"It's human nature," Winter replied, leaning up just enough to look. "To want what you can't have."

"Human nature," she scoffed, folding her arms. "Sister, we're not even _close_ to human."

"I think we're getting closer every day, don't you?"

A staring contest took place, one that Summer quickly lost. "Good one. Which one of us is the optimist, again?" she asked with a grin.

Winter smirked right back. "I have my moments. Now then... what about the graveyard?"

She straightened up with a blank face. "Oh, right. Could it be a trap?"

"Even if it is, I think we can handle it. Maybe we're being sent on a wild goose chase."

Summer rubbed her chin. "I don't know, he certainly acted like he was telling the truth. Unless he _was_ acting."

"It can't hurt to look regardless." Winter peered through a window at the evening sky. "At least... I suppose."

"It's fine. I could use the fresh air." With an obnoxious stretch of her arms, she rose from the couch and wandered into the kitchen.

Winter did the same, but a knock interrupted her before she could stand. "Hmm?" She expected another visitor asking for spiritual advice – a few had shown up throughout the afternoon – and put on her polite face.

That wasn't what she got. Soos and Wendy were behind the door, with the former looking much, much happier to be there. "'Sup dudes," he greeted. "We still goin' to the cemetery?"

She cocked a brow in confusion. "Summer and I are, but what are you doing here?"

"Dipper and Mabel asked us to come along! They were feelin' kinda bad about telling you no, so they asked us instead. We totally volunteered."

"No," Wendy objected. "No, we did not volunteer. I didn't. I got begged into oblivion, _that's_ how I got here."

Soos tsk'd a few times, patting her on the back. "Aw, dude, hambone's right. You gotta face your fears, otherwise they'll control you."

"I have a right to be afraid of stuff like this!"

Summer popped up beside her sister and blinked. "Oh, this is who you were talking to. Hello!"

Winter leaned on the door frame to give her sister space to stand. "Apparently they're going to come with us tonight."

"They are?" She drew back at Wendy's helpless look. "I thought you didn't like ghosts."

She rubbed her face and groaned. "I don't, but good luck explaining that to Mabel."

"Yeah! Super Mystery Brothers!" Soos cheered, though it cut off abruptly as he looked around. "I mean... Super Mystery Sisters and a Bro. Sorry. Don't wanna sound sexist."

"It's all right." Winter looked past them at his truck. "Whose car shall we take?"

Wendy suddenly looked hopeful. "Could we take yours? Never ridden in a Bimmer before."

"You drive, sister," Summer said while departing to get her shoes.

She got a sigh fired at her back in response. "Fine."

The redhead managed a small smile. "Sweet. I hope this isn't my _last_ ride."

They all piled into the red sedan. Since there were vulnerable passengers along for the ride, Winter drove with more care than usual. "This is great, right? We haven't gotten a chance to hang out." Soos fought with the seat belt for a few seconds. "Hey, uh... can you change stuff into food? I forgot my post-lunch snack today. Tummy's seriously rumbling."

"We can, but we're not going to," Winter advised firmly.

"U-understood, ma'am."

Wendy snuggled into the leather and sighed happily. Of course, she lost her smile after remembering where she was headed. "So what are we lookin' for, anyway?"

"I'm sure we'll know when we find it!" Summer chirped with a grin.

Soos bobbed his head along with the music. "Hey, playin' by ear! I like it. Last time I played by ear Mister Pines almost punched me, though." The redhead quietly sighed. "Aw, he didn't mean to. Sometimes his hand just accidentally runs into things for some reason, like my turntables."

"Yeah, man. Yeah."

The twins exchanged a few silent words and frowned. "If something happens, I guess we'll be doing the fighting," Winter murmured.

Summer glanced back and shrugged. "I don't know, Wendy seems like she can defend herself fine."

Wendy poked her head between the front seats. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, just deciding what to have for dinner when we get back!" Her smile was too big to be genuine, but the redhead seemed to buy it and withdrew.

Soos's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Dude! Hot dogs! Hamburgers. Uh... hotburgers. There are hotburgers, right?"

Winter let out a long, low breath and decided to stick to driving. It was a fairly muggy evening, but many people were walking around as they made their way through Gravity Falls. Many of them waved to the twins. Summer took great pleasure in waving back, but her sister was too annoyed with the inane conversation coming from the back – most of which was Soos.

"Dude, I heard there's a fair in Iowa where everything's made of butter. Like, they had a statue of a stick of butter _made_ of sticks of butter! Heh! Heh, I'd love to see it one day."

"You, uh, you sure love butter, man," Wendy observed, a little grossed out. "I mean, almost as much as Thompson – and wow, I never thought I'd say that. Hey, you're from Iowa, aren't ya? You guys ever been to the butter... thing?"

"No," Winter replied simply. To her relief, the navigation indicated that only one more left turn stood between her and the cemetery. "We're here." She parked along the sidewalk and stared at it, looming across the street. There were very few lights. "I suppose nobody will bother us if they can't see."

Summer was already halfway out of the car. "I've got flashlights."

They passed through the wrought iron gate and entered a haphazard field of headstones and monuments of all kinds. While the twins secretly used their sixth sense to check for anything out of the ordinary, Soos and Wendy lead the way with Summer's flashlights in hand. The air was so quiet and solemn here, Gravity Falls seemed to exist on another plane behind them.

"Heh, look at the sky," Wendy blurted out, desperate to fill the silence with _something_. Three large, but narrow clouds, made purple by the encroaching night, clawed paths through the red and vermillion sky. "Man. That's nice."

"Mm." Winter's eyes were elsewhere. "Nothing yet. What about you?" Summer shook her head quietly.

"What are we lookin' for again?" Soos asked, sweeping the beam around. "All I see is creepy."

"I told you, we'll know when we..." Summer fell silent as she realized what she was looking at. There was a large gap in the headstones, one that encompassed nearly the entire right rear corner of the cemetery. "What's over there?" She turned Wendy that way. "Light please."

"Huh?" The glow revealed a grassy, empty spot, unmarred by headstones or plaques. "Oh yeah. I saw that when we buried mom, but dad wouldn't tell me what it was about." Her face became pallid. "I... I got a bad feeling about this."

Soos was unperturbed. "What's the worst that could happen?" he joked, leading them in its direction.

Wendy smacked his arm. "Don't even!"

However, nothing ill occurred as the four entered the empty space. The twins were tense, ready to strike. Wendy's demeanor wasn't much different. Soos was, as always, himself. "Doesn't seem like good space management," he chided. "Someone oughta complain."

"Hmm." Winter split away from them and started to wander, eyes to the grass.

"Mabel told us you were lying about talking to ghosts."

She stopped mid-step and turned to regard Wendy. Faint anger joined anxiety on the redhead's face. An awkward looking Soos was at her side; Summer moved to be with her sister in turn. A mild standoff was underway. "She was right."

The redhead's eyes shone with disdain. "So, what? Did you lie to us too?" she demanded.

"No."

"You can't have it both ways!" Wendy stormed over to them. "You either lied about lying or you lied to my dad! And if you lied to him I swear..."

Neither woman even bothered to flinch. "The power that allows us to do this," Winter began, snapping Wendy's flashlight into a lantern which she dropped in shock, "was following him around at the party. And not just him. We heard it say goodbye. Was it a ghost? I suppose not. Did we lie about what it was doing? No." She moved closer and put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "The journal is only part of the story. We're looking for the rest."

"Well, this is tense," Summer sighed. "Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if their spirits were using magic to make themselves heard. No wonder everyone was so happy."

Soos was beginning to brainstorm. "Whoa whoa wait. If there was magic in the hospital, where'd it come from? Were the babies magical? Dude... does Wendy have magical relatives? Do I?! _Are we all going to Hogwarts_?!"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Winter replied, brow raised at his outburst. She restored the flashlight and offered it to Wendy again. "Doesn't seem like there's anything here, though."

Wendy turned it over in her hands several times. "H-how did you—this is insane."

"Hold on." Summer, hand raised, was peering around. "I heard a whisper."

The tension returned. All four of them closed into a group, back to back while straining to hear. Most of the sound was their own breathing. "I thought I killed them all?" Wendy suddenly muttered. "Who...?"

"Dudes? Maybe we should call it a day?" Soos begged, hunched over and trembling.

The twins broke away, walking toward the corner. Wendy and Soos elected to stay where they were. "Killed all of who?" Winter whispered. The closer they got, the colder the air became.

"I don't hear it anymore," the redhead called. "I think we're good."

"It's following us!" Summer called back. "It feels like there's something over here in the corner!"

A minor disagreement about giving chase broke out between Wendy and Soos, but the twins kept walking and paid it no attention. In a few seconds more, the temperature had dropped so much their breaths came out in little clouds. "I doubt this is normal," Winter murmured.

Summer nodded her agreement. "No kidding. Come out, whoever you are."

The others came up alongside them, still bickering, just as a humanoid shape faded into view against the fence. "I cannot believe this," it said. Its voice was distinctly male, bearing an accent that neither woman was familiar with. As they watched it twisted and bent into a balding, thin old man, dressed in a sharp ensemble with a double-breasted jacket and pressed slacks. Round glasses sat on his face. His flesh and the fabric displayed the same faded grayish color – at points it was hard to tell which was which. "I was certain I got you all—oh." He paused, eying the twins for a moment. "Forgive me, you're much too young. I thought I felt that dreadful force again."

"'Sup, dude," Soos waved. "Nice suit. Classic style."

He tugged on his collar smartly. "My thanks. I may be deceased, but that's no reason not to look my best, yes?" His gaze traveled past them and to a lopsided marker beside Wendy. He raised a hand and straightened it with an unseen force, causing the redhead to yelp with terror. "Although I wish the residents of Gravity Falls felt the same about their resting places."

Winter, blinking with surprise at his telekinesis, tossed the small talk aside and walked up to the ghost. "Killed all of who?" she asked again.

He didn't answer right away, content instead to glare at her, then at her sister. "I _do_ feel that force. Who are you?"

"We're asking the questions," Summer denied him with a smile. "Could we at least have your name?"

"Very well. I am Wilhelm Seifert. _Doctor_ Wilhelm Seifert."

"Oh no, it's the friggin' baby murderer," Wendy gagged, turning her back on the spirit.

Hands on his lapels, he glared at the teenager in disgust. "I have an unearned reputation, miss. Whatever you've heard of my regrettable actions is a lie. They were of the utmost necessity."

"Like hell! I wish you were solid," she spat at him, "so I could punch you in the face!"

"How dare you!"

"Enough!" Winter bellowed, stepping between them. "Answer my question, please."

"All of the innocent newborns tainted by that awful spark," he replied. "They would have grown up to become like you and the world would have suffered." His voice suddenly grew haughty. "I saved us all, you see. I understand why they had to incarcerate me. I do. Thankfully, I'd kept my work secret long enough for the portal to be closed."

Summer's jaw nearly hit the ground. "Wait. The children were like us? That's why you killed them?"

The doctor abruptly lost all his pride. Bitter remorse took its place. "Yes. It was our fault they suffered," he admitted, head hung. "A date which shall live in infamy indeed. If only the world knew how many more infamous days it spawned." Once more, he eyed the twins. "And yet, here you are, grown up and bearing the power with great dignity." His brow furrowed. "Hmm. What are your names?"

They shared a glance before responding. "I'm Summer Weiss. This is my sister Winter."

He clapped his hands cheerfully. "Weiss! So good to hear a name from my homeland. Were you born this way?"

"Yes," Winter nodded. "Why?"

Wilhelm looked around in thought. "Then the portal must have been opened again. I knew we would find a way to harness its power." Another glance made him smile. "And the world is still here. I'm glad."

Soos tilted his head. "There's a portal?"

"Of course. Didn't you know?"

"No, we're from Iowa," Summer lied, motioning between herself and her sister. "What portal?"

Wilhelm's face grew dark. "You _don't_ know?" Anger filled his eyes. "Hmm. Perhaps someone else has found our research and is using it for their own ends. Well, there are things that no one should ever know. I cannot trust you with those. Leave me in peace." He disappeared in a wispy cloud, taking the cold fog with him. The four of them just stood there for a while and tried to process the conversation.

"...There's a portal now." Wendy threw her hands up and started back toward the gate. "Screw it _all_ , man. I give up. I'm gonna say hi to mom while I'm here."

"I'm with her," Soos shrugged. "My, uh, my brain kinda hurts. I'll be at the car."

The twins were thankful to be left alone. "I feel about like Wendy does. There's a portal now," Summer moaned. "I mean, besides the one we used."

Winter slapped her forehead. "Are we dealing with a leak somewhere?"

"Who knows. How could he even feel us?" She peeked down at her hands and frowned.

"I don't know." They could see a flashlight off to their right, laying on the ground beside a headstone. The redhead herself was visible as a dim silhouette kneeling before it. "Let's pay our respects," she said, walking that way.

Their arrival a minute later startled Wendy a bit. It was clear she was decompressing from her ghostly encounter just as much as she was paying a visit to her mother's grave. "Oh, uh, hey. What's up?"

"Nothing." Winter nodded at the marker. "This is your mother, I assume?"

"Oh, yeah." Wendy's eyes glittered with sadness. "Car accident. Not so long ago, but it seems like forever," she sighed, rising from her knees. "It... sucks."

"Yes, I bet." Summer, hands clasped, bowed her head briefly. "Whitney? That's a nice name."

She allowed herself a small smile. "Heh. She won a bet with my dad. If I was a boy, he'd get to give me a name starting with D. If I was a girl, she'd give me a name starting with W." For a moment, they all stared quietly at the marker. "I'm sorry about snappin' at you earlier. I just didn't want to think someone was lying to me. Not about _that_ , you know?"

"We understand." Winter's eyes were glued to the headstone, her expression unreadable. "There's something... cathartic about this, isn't there?"

The fancy word made her chuckle. "Cathartic? Glad I paid attention in English class. Yeah, there is." Thinking about why the blue-eyed woman would understand made her heart heavy after a while. "You've been to a funeral too, huh?"

"Kind of," Summer said, just before the tears started to flow. "There were... there were supposed to be..." Unable to continue, she hid her eyes and turned away.

In her stead, Winter attempted to maintain a steely front but lacked the capability. She wiped her eyes. "Quadruplets. We should have been four sisters, not two."

"Oh, man." Wendy plopped her hat back on and gave each woman a tight hug. "Sorry to hear that." Unable to form words without loosing a sob, Summer was limited to an anguished groan. Her sister was absolutely silent. She stepped back to allow them a moment to collect themselves. "Hey, let's change the subject," she encouraged. "What's up with that portal thing?"

"I have no idea," Winter sighed. "This is the first I've heard of it, but it could explain why there's magic here."

Wendy's face twisted with confusion. "It could? Hold up. Where did you guys get your powers, anyway?"

Summer hopped anxiously on her heels. "Like we told him, we were born with them."

"So does that mean there's magic in _Iowa_?"

"Mm. Never underestimate the strangeness of the world around you," Winter advised with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I oughta know better now, huh." She scratched at her ruddy locks and frowned. "And you guys can feel it?"

"Yes. As you can probably guess, being the only ones of your kind helps you detect when you're suddenly not the only ones of your kind," Summer said. Her eyes drifted around the graveyard. "I wonder if any of those babies made it past him... if they did..."

"Whoa." Wendy's eyes bulged with the image of random citizens of Gravity Falls being able to shift things. She looked at her hands and blinked. "Maybe we are going to Hogwarts. Or Dipper was right and you two are mutants. What if we all are? That's freaky."

Winter's brow furrowed in thought. "No kidding. Would you go check on Soos? I'm not sure he won't try to eat Summer's car."

The image made her burst out laughing. "Pfff, no joke. Guy loves his food. Yeah, sure. I'll leave the flash—wait, you can just make one. Man. You guys are nuts." She departed with a wave, shaking her head.

And she did just that, almost literally weaving a new one out of a few blades of grass. "This is a problem. If there's an open hole between our worlds, this one is in trouble. It's not ready for magic." Silence on Summer's end made her turn and look. "What?"

Her eyes were wide. "We're going to have to tell them we're not from Earth, aren't we?"

"Probably," she acknowledged while starting to walk. "We look enough like them to make it palatable. I'm willing to divulge it if I must." A scowl appeared as she briefly shone the flashlight on her palm. "But there are some things we cannot let anyone know."

"Right." Summer turned her thoughts to another matter. "A date which will live in infamy... I wonder what he meant by that?"

* * *

"Why do you think he's haunting you?"

On the twins' sofa was a sniffling, bronze-skinned woman, her brown hair tied back in a simple ponytail. For some reason, she wore a black apron over her clothes. She'd been there for the better part of an hour, having a back-and-forth with Summer. Winter, leaning in the kitchen doorway, was content to lend an ear once in a while, though most of the time her attention was on the laptop in her hand.

"I just feel him!" she sobbed. "I can't explain, it's like... a presence sometimes."

Summer tapped her chin a few times. "Does it _feel_ like he hates you?"

"Well... I don't know. Why wouldn't he? It's my fault he died."

The story tumbled around in her head, forcing a series of various expressions as she tried to pull out the positives. There wasn't much for her to grasp. "I understand he drowned while you were supposed to be watching him, but..."

Their visitor broke down under the weight of those memories. Hunched over and sobbing, her next words were hardly able to escape. "They all hate me... I know they do..."

"We all make mistakes, Nicole." Those words carried so much strength, both Winter and their guest stopped cold to look at her. She blinked at the attention. "Trust us, we know what regret looks like. The next time you sense him nearby, why not ask what he thinks?"

"But I already know what he thinks!"

Summer shook her head gently. "No, you think you know what he thinks. Ask him. If he forgives you, you can forgive you. There's no reason to haul around your anguish forever."

"What if he doesn't?"

She offered a bright smile. "Then give it more time. They're not lying about the 'heals all wounds' business. Even the most bitter emotions will fade."

"R-really?" Hope began to enter Nicole's agonized look. "It hurts so much, though. It's like a cloud I can't see past."

"We know," Winter chimed in, closing and lowering her laptop. "There are two options: you can let it shape you, or you can let it destroy you. That choice is up to you. Don't shy away from making it."

"Wow." Nicole's shoulders slumped. "I needed that."

"There's nothing wrong with a good pep talk," Summer assured. She peeked over at her sister, who nodded at the door. "But it's getting late for us, I'm afraid."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure." Nicole rose and fished in her purse for a moment. Her hand emerged with a crumpled wad of money, which she dropped on the coffee table. "Here. I insist. Thanks for seeing me so late."

"No problem. Goodbye!" Summer waved. After she was gone, Winter took her place on the sofa and opened her laptop again. "I wonder if we're 'mediums' or therapists?"

She replied with a shrug. "I don't see much difference between the two, honestly."

"Fair point." Her breath hitched a few times until the sounds became a sniffle. "I wish I could follow my own advice."

Winter stopped typing and glanced over. "Be patient. We haven't been alive that long."

With a bitter pout, Summer crossed her arms and glared. "...I hate being young beyond my years."

"Mm. We've got a lot of growing to do. I also think we have a right to be proud of our progress." The Wikipedia entry on her screen made her eyes narrow. "Hmm..." For a few silent moments she read.

And in that time her demeanor changed to one that made Summer's hair stand on end. "What?" Her sister was pallid... nervous, almost. It was an emotion she'd never seen her wearing before. " _What_?"

Winter handed the laptop over and sighed. "I'm reading about my worst nightmare. That phrase Seifert mentioned, I searched for it on—whatever it's called. Look at what I found."

"Huh?" Her eyes took in the almost unending text of a condensed history of World War II from its origins to its end. While the places and the names defied her limited knowledge of the world, one part was easy to understand: numbers, breathtaking in scale and horrific in the brutality they insinuated. Millions of lives lost in the span of a few years, killed by means and methods she'd never heard of until now. It was a hole even deeper than the pit, and she lost several minutes chasing related articles, mostly about the weaponry. "Oh my. I..."

Winter nodded solemnly. "I knew the stakes were high, but if this is what full-scale conflict looks like here... an overreaction to our presence could cause incredible damage."

"Why? Do you think they'd be so afraid they'd try to kill us?"

"Seifert seemed convinced of _something_ terrible, I know that much. And I can tell you the guns we're used to seeing look a lot more deadly than the ones in those photos. Not to mention the flying machines." She released a resigned sigh and curled up on the sofa. "We should learn about what modern warfare means here. Know what we'd be up against."

A knot of ice congealed in Summer's stomach. She tried to fight it off with a nervous smile. "No, no. All we have to do is keep our secrets."

"Secrets have a way of becoming un-kept. I'm hoping for the best, but we need to prepare for the _worst_." She summoned the other laptop from the coffee table with her telekinesis and began to hunt. "Are you still reading about the war?"

"Unfortunately." At least the rate at which she consumed information had brought her close to the end. Here she found the way the conflict died, in the brilliant flash of two bombs that changed the course of history forever. "Sister... search for," she paused, unsure how to pronounce the first word, "atomic bombs."

Winter did as asked, clicked the first link, and ended up right back on Wikipedia again. The article she found there introduced her to a new level of disgust. "Whole cities?" she exclaimed. "At once?!"

"I wonder if this is what he meant by saving the world. Would they... no, I don't even need to ask. They've _already_ used them on each other." She trembled with anguish. "Shadows imprinted against the walls. Melting eyes. I can't handle—I can't." She finally broke, shutting the laptop and wincing.

"We obviously can't let something like that happen." Emotion forced Winter to her feet, where she paced circles around the couch. "Then again... we know the lengths people will go to in order to keep something quiet. There could be danger."

"They can't hurt us. I'm more worried about Gravity Falls."

Her icy eyes grew somber. "Exactly what I was thinking."

"What do we do now?" Summer asked, tracking her orbit. "If we stop looking, the magic might spread and start a war. If we press on, we might accidentally do the same."

Winter froze in her tracks. "I want to know if there were survivors. I would—I would like very much to meet them, but I can't get an answer until I know how this got here." Her face softened when Summer rose, walked over, and took her by the hands.

"Then we keep looking," she asserted with a smile. "If I'm reading things right, the whole country played a part in the conflict. Maybe Gravity Falls' role in that effort is a good place to start."


	13. Big Brother

Dawn broke over Gravity Falls, humid and cloudy. As usual, Summer was outside on the front porch to watch the sunrise, though it was denied by the haze. Coffee was in her mug this time; every sip caused her face to screw up in distaste. "People drink this?" she asked the morning. With an annoyed snap, she whipped the bitter liquid into the soda Winter liked so much. Pepsi, or whatever it was called. This was almost too sweet for her liking – but it was better than the coffee. Her gaze traveled slowly over the sleepy town. "Nice and normal. Let's hope we can keep it that way."

A squeak from behind heralded the arrival of her twin, who was in the process of slicking down her abyssal locks as she walked over. "Quiet."

"Better than noisy." She took another sip of fizzy syrup and let out an unwilling belch. "Oh. No wonder you burp so much when you drink this. It's like I'm swallowing air."

"Mm," she acknowledged with a smirk. "Ready to go museum hopping?" Her eyes rolled at the thought of the Mystery Shack. "Real museums, I mean. We have a history lesson to get to."

"Another history lesson on top of the hours of history we've just taught ourselves? Why not, I could use the walk. I'll go get my good shoes." Before she could depart, however, Winter's smartphone began to ring.

"Hello?" she said after putting it on speaker.

"There's a freaking portal?!" Dipper, whose exclamation was so loud they could have heard him without the speaker on. "Are you serious?!"

"I thought you would have called us about this last night," Winter noted. "What happened?"

"We were tired, so we turned in early. Soos left a note. Mabel hasn't seen it yet and I don't know if I want her to."

Summer blinked at that. "You're not going to keep it a secret, are you?"

"I don't... of course not. I couldn't keep a secret from her if I tried. You're twins, you know how it is."

Winter glanced at her sister and smiled. "We know exactly how it is. How much did you get from the note?"

"Just that there's a portal, the serial killer was a really snappy dresser, and Soos is kind of afraid of you. Why? What's not in it?"

"We think whatever is going on is related to World War II. It looks like we've got some more investigating to do," Summer replied. She then turned away and muttered, "Despite the fact that we've been doing that since midnight..."

Winter chided her sister with a nudge and got back on point. "There wasn't much about Gravity Falls' role in the war, though."

"World. War. II. Are you..." Dipper emitted a series of stunned noises before words came back. "Do we really want to go down this road? Really? I don't think I wanna go down this road."

She put a hand on her hip and frowned. "I don't think we have a choice. If there's a portal, magic could be seeping from it. Who knows how it might affect things."

"Granted. Hold up, though, where did you guys get _your_ power, huh? I'm curious."

Summer chimed in for this one. "We told you, we were born with it. Maybe there's more than one portal and we got exposed to it at home. We won't know until we know what to look for, right?" She gave Winter a thumbs up.

The blue-eyed woman nodded at the quality of her lie. "She's right. People could be in danger if we do nothing. He was killing babies with magical traces, Dipper. He was killing people like us. I _need_ to know how this started."

Dipper, stung by her tone, fell silent for some time. "Yeah," he finally agreed. "Yeah, I get it. You guys are the only ones of your kind. Or... maybe not. Okay, let me talk to Mabel when she wakes up. Did you have anything in mind?"

Winter glanced up as a car traveled down the hill toward town. "Just some poking around in museums. Do you think there's anyone left who remembers those days?"

"Probably. Couldn't hurt to ask."

"Right. Well, let me know what she says. I suspect we'll have customers in soon." She checked the time on her watch. "We really need to set hours for this."

"Uh, you're still going with the ghost story?"

"We're acting less like mediums and more like therapists," Summer explained. "There's no lying involved, if that's what you're worried about. We don't tell people we sense things unless we actually sense them."

"All right, I can live with that. You're already a hundred times better than Gideon. Oh, hey, did you ever go talk to him? Did you... did you turn him into a frog? Please tell me you turned him into a frog. Please."

"I'm afraid I couldn't. He's earned his reputation, though." Although she was prepared to hang up, a thought made her pause. "Before you go, we figured out why the pit was bottomless."

"You did—oh, crap. You're about to tell me there's a dragon or something in there, right?"

Summer giggled. Winter flicked her hand a few times for silence. "It's full of magic. It propels anyone out that falls in, but seems to ignore objects. Don't worry, it seems very friendly."

"Huh. Could be worse. When did you find this out?"

"The day of the party."

"Right. Welp, I guess Mabel's gonna want to jump in there now and ask for stuff. Like pizza, or a Corvette. Glad to know it won't eat her soul."

Summer giggled again. "Oh my. Oh! The hospital magic is in there now. It's friendly too. I bet it was just lonely when we first met it."

"So that's where it went. Ooookay. Thanks for the heads up. I like this communication. It's healthy. But, uh, I gotta go, I want breakfast before I try to wake Mabel up. We'll let you know about... stuff. Later."

"All right. Goodbye." Winter hung up and slipped the phone back into her jeans. "Not all communication is healthy," she sighed.

Summer let out a low, unhappy grunt in response. Something hot pink and purple caught her eye coming down the sidewalk. "What is that?" she asked, pointing it out. In a few moments, the shape became Pacifica on her morning run. "Oh." The twins offered her a friendly wave.

Not only did she return it, she pulled up and jogged to the front steps. "Morning, early birds. Saw you two on the news. Keep it up and you might be as popular as me." A fit of laughter came. "Pff, never mind. You'll never reach _that_ level."

"Fine with me," Winter retorted. "I'm not sure I get along with popularity."

"You're such a mope," Summer teased. A thought made her blink. "Say, Pacifica, how long has your family lived here? I saw the statue with the Northwest name in the square. Is that a relative?"

"Sure is. That's my great-great-grandfather. He..." She paused. A brief flash of anger slipped over her face. "He founded Gravity Falls."

"Did he?" Winter asked, seizing on the hesitation. "You don't seem so sure."

"I-" The blonde slumped on her feet. "I'm totally sure. He founded the town. Yeah."

She folded her arms. "Mm. What really happened?"

"Ugh, nothing! Like I just said-" Silenced by their looks of disbelief, Pacifica winced and went up the steps. She stood between the twins as if using them as shields. "Don't you _dare_ tell anyone this or we will destroy you. You might be rich, but we'll find a way. Deal?"

"We don't react well to threats," Summer warned. "Buuuut, I am curious." She looked at Winter. They shared a nod. "Deal."

"Fine. Some idiot named Quentin Trembley actually founded the place." Her words dripped with venom. "It's supposed to be a huge secret or whatever."

Winter shook her head. "Secrets? In this little town? I'm stunned," she muttered caustically.

Meanwhile, her sister realized they now had leverage – and she moved to use it. "We'll keep your secret too... if you help _us_ with something." She smiled at the stunned look on both their faces. "Winter and I are doing some research about World War II and Gravity Falls. Where would we start?"

"Uh..." The blonde played with her ponytail for a moment. "I know our factory made mud flaps for Jeeps. There's even an exhibit about it in the museum of history. Besides that, eh. I dunno. Talk to old people."

"Any particular old people?" Winter asked.

"Hm. We're obviously the oldest family in Gravity Falls, but my grandparents moved to Seattle so good luck talking to them unless you feel like taking a trip. Who else..." She tapped her foot in thought. "The Gleefuls are new, the Nelsons are new, the Hargreaves can kiss my butt... oh, wait. The Pines," she groaned dramatically. "They've been here forever, but that creepy Stan guy's the only one of them that hasn't moved out permanently."

"Huh, that's interesting," Summer admitted with a nod. "Okay, your secret's safe with us."

"Nice. I should be mad at you for blackmailing me – but it's not like I wouldn't do the exact same thing. Anyway, I've been standing here too long. This ice cream isn't gonna burn itself." After running in place for a second, Pacifica started for the sidewalk. "Later, fools! I am _out_!"

They waved and watched her disappear behind the shrubbery of the property next door. "Another reason to talk to Stan," Winter said lowly. "Should we drop by the Mystery Shack again?"

"Maybe we should just move in to the Mystery Shack," she joked while walking back inside. "Let's see what Mabel and Dipper say first. I want to take a nap while I can."

"Fine. I'll hold down the fort." Winter sat on the couch while her sister wandered down the hall and out of sight.

* * *

Her initial description of the day held true for a long time. Even after Summer's hour-long slumber was over, the morning soldiered on with no visitors seeking their advice – or any visitors at all. They used the lull to allow their minds to empty. For one, this meant reading a book. For the other, it meant poking fun at the reader.

"What are you reading _now_?" Summer asked obnoxiously. "Haven't you had enough of words?"

"Pardon me for enjoying a habit that doesn't kill people," she fired back with a smile. Despite the weighty nature of her phrasing, Summer still managed to giggle.

After her laughs, however, she donned a pout. "You haven't even looked at my new hairdo."

To humor her, Winter gave it a glance. The red-eyed woman's black locks had been rearranged into a bob cut, shorter in the back and tapering to longer bangs that framed her face and hung past her chin. "It's nice. Did you do it after you woke up?"

"Yes. The hardest part was making sure it looked the right length." She patted her head gently and smiled. "You need a new style!"

Winter turned a page. "Why?" Lips pursed, she looked up for a moment. "Then again, I have been thinking about putting the blue back in. I saw one girl with pink in hers."

"Ugh, we both need a splash of color, I think."

Before she could reply either way, a knock at the door drew their attention. "I suppose we're open for business," Winter mumbled. Summer moved to answer it. "Thank you."

With a breath, she put on her best smile and opened the door. "Hello!" she chirped, only to lose her expression. Instead of a customer, a trio of Pines stood on the porch. "Oh, Dipper, Mabel... Stan?"

He tipped his fez and grinned. "Hey, hey! Thought we'd come over and say hi. Frankly I didn't think I was allowed in the rich people neighborhood since the... uh, never mind."

"Oh, well, welcome." She stepped aside to let them through. While Dipper looked like his usual self, Mabel was a bleary-eyed, mumbling zombie.

"This is a surprise," Winter said as she saw them entering. "What brings you three here?"

"Just decided to switch things up," Dipper replied, falling on the sofa next to her. "You know. You keep visiting us, why shouldn't we visit you? We can do that." He looked up at his great uncle and scowled. "...Grunkle Stan wanted to see your house and how rich you were. Oh, uh, nice haircut, Summer. Looks good."

"Thank you! I did it myself," she said with a broad smile.

"The house is kinda bland, but nice floors. Is this thing a TV?" Stan blinked, contemplating their sizable flat-panel set. "It's not a TV." Winter turned it on, making him step back with surprise. "Oh, so it is. Huh. What's the big—wait." The channel was tuned to a sports show of some kind. " _This_ is HD?! Why didn't somebody tell me? I'm taking this thing home."

Mabel, sitting by her brother, facepalmed and sighed. "Hi, my name is Stan. Thanks for letting me visit. Now I'm going to steal all of your stuff."

Summer occupied the other end of the couch, bracketing the Pines with her sister. "I'm glad you like it, I guess?"

Winter peered at the old man for a second. "Actually, we wanted to talk to you, Stan."

He turned and threw up his arms in self-defense. "It wasn't my fault! You can't prove anything! You'll never take me alive!" This time, both Dipper and Mabel sighed. "What? I'm coverin' my bases."

"About Gravity Falls," Winter explained with faint annoyance. "We've heard your family has lived here for a while."

"Uh," Mabel blinked. She tugged on Winter's shirt sleeve. "I don't care for your tone, missy. What about Gravity Falls?" Dipper was fidgeting a bit beside her.

Though it made her a bit anxious as well, Summer followed her sister's lead. "The 1940s. We're doing some research."

"Ha! What, for your little ghost thing? Ah, sure, why not. I'm in a good mood." He sat down in the middle of the couch – more or less _on_ his great niece and nephew – and got comfortable. "Shoot."

"Ugh, gross!" Mabel cried, smacking his side. "Old man cologne! Help!"

"Hey! I paid a dollar fifty for this!"

"World War II," Winter interrupted. "Specifically. We're curious how it touched this part of the country."

Dipper perked up, although something about it looked a little false to Summer. "Hey, we're gonna learn about World War II when we get back to school. This could be interesting." Mabel began to snore. "Wow, man. Rude much? You even overslept today."

"Nothin' happened," Stan replied, ignoring the kids. "The Northwests made their fancy mud flaps for the Army and that's about it. Sorry to disappoint."

The boy stared with shock. "Oh come on, really? That was all? Nobody served? Got hurt? Worse?" His surprise faded after a moment. "Then again, Gravity Falls doesn't even have a war memorial. I thought _all_ towns had one."

"Kid, we're in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees. I don't even think the Japanese knew we existed. And you really think the military would take anyone from around here? Come on."

"Fair—fair point," Dipper acknowledged quietly.

"Booooooooring," Mabel whined – with relief. "Of course nothing happened. Nothing ever happens." She looked down and murmured, "Except when it does..."

Stan, thankfully, didn't catch that part. "You underestimate the soul-crushing dullness of this place." He turned and looked over the back of the couch, pointing toward the nearest doorway. "That your kitchen? Got any pork products? I'm hungry."

"We were going to go grocery shopping before you came over," Winter advised him, arms crossed. "Our cupboards are bare."

He glowered at first, then took a peek at Summer's biceps. "Ah, who am I kiddin', you two probably eat that organic natural stuff made outta... whatever. The most delicate flowers or something."

"Hey, why don't we go out to eat?" Mabel asked via obnoxious yawn. "I wanna visit that fancy new place by the Arcade."

"Sure, if these two will pick up the tab," Stan agreed, thumbing at the older twins. "What do you say?"

They exchanged a long, silent glance. "How about lunch?" Winter offered instead. "As I said, we have some research and shopping to do."

"Awwwww, but I'm hungry!"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Mabel, you ate twelve pancakes an hour ago. Relax."

"Works for me! I gotta go deliver Soos' paycheck anyway before his grandma tries to hit me with her purse." Stan hopped to his feet and headed for the door, scanning the living room the whole way. "Yeesh, it's so clean in here. Neat freaks kinda creep me out. No—no offense." He noticed the huge, pearly dinosaur tooth on the mantle piece above the fireplace; it appeared to be the only tchotchke in the whole room. "That's pretty nice, though. I oughta forge some fossils for the shack. People love old stuff."

"Nobody loves you, Grunkle Stan," Mabel teased, then gave him a punch on the arm. "I'm joking!"

"Ow!" he yelped. "Geez."

"Sorry. I reassure hard."

"Aaaaanyway, I'll call you when we've got a plan," Dipper said with a wave. He silently mouthed _we'll talk about the other thing later_ while Stan was occupied with opening the door. The twins nodded.

"Bye!" Summer called, bringing Winter along and out onto the porch to bid them farewell. "Wow. I keep forgetting how unsafe your car looks."

"Safer than the guy drivin' it," Mabel said with a half-joking smile. "See ya!"

Once they'd departed – in a trail of sputtering smoke – she got back to business. "You think he's lying?"

"I'm not sure. Even if he were, I don't know how to call him on it." Winter walked back into the house. "No memorial for the war... and now that I think about it, no memorial for the children."

Her ruby eyes narrowed a bit. "You're right. Not even in the cemetery."

"No grave marker for the doctor, either, though I understand that one." She smoothed down her hair and sighed. "Even the history of Gravity Falls' birth is a lie. I don't know what or who to believe anymore."

"Careful, this way lies paranoia," Summer advised with a tiny smirk.

She returned the smile while retrieving her book and sitting down. "Mm. A lack of truth tends to do that, you know."

"Sometimes." Her head tilted as she watched the baseball highlights. "We should play this. Hitting a ball really far seems like fun."

Winter kept her gaze on the text. "This is coming from the woman who threw a dinosaur head."

Summer was pouting once again. "I told you I was mad." She glanced around at a few bursts of creaking. "Hmm? Oh. I wish this house would stop settling."

"From what I know, it's fairly old. Perhaps we should consider shoring up the foundation later," Winter replied idly. Her sister got quiet, so she threw herself completely into the book. Only after turning two pages did a strange, loud sound make her look over. Summer was slumped limply over the armrest, bleeding from a bullet hole in the back of her neck. As she turned to check on her, she saw the shape of a person – but her sight was dominated by the muzzle of a suppressed H&K USP, pointed at the side of her head. "Who-"

The rest of her confused exclamation was lost to gunshot. Winter came to rest partially on top of her sister. "It's done," their hooded assailant said, speaking into a microphone on the collar of his camouflage jacket. "I'm going to sweep the house."

He left the twins on the sofa and did just that, wandering into the kitchen and opening every cabinet door. None of them contained anything. The refrigerator only contained a few bottles of Winter's precious soda. "What the hell..." he breathed, striding out and down the hallway. He opened the closet to find a pile of junk and their small stack of gold bullion, along with the currency they'd cloned. Confused, he kept going through the house, into empty room after empty room. Only one of the bedrooms actually had a bed. "This place is too clean," he muttered. The bathrooms were spotless beyond all reason, and the rest of the closets were totally bare. "Whatever." He activated his mic again. "There's nothing important here. Call the cleaners to come bury these girls," he advised, heading back toward the living room to take their laptops.

Halfway down the corridor, he tripped. "What the-" A black, thick rope, like steel cable, was around his left ankle. As he tried to kick it off, his eyes traced it across the floor... then up. It was connected to Summer's right palm. "What the fuck?!" he screamed, emptying the pistol into her chest. It put a lot of ragged holes in her silver dress, which were quickly ringed with dark red stains, but that was about it. He rolled over onto his stomach and tried to crawl to safety, only to find someone standing in his way. "Huh?" Looming over him in this direction was Winter. Blood dripped down the side of her face.

"You'd better make sure we're dead before you send someone to dig our graves," she said with a vicious smile. When he moved to call for help, she snapped up a hand and suspended him spread eagle in the air with her power. After a few clumsy yanks, she pulled off the microphone, dropped it, and stepped on it. "No, I think you've done enough."

"What the fuck are you people?!"

"Annoyed," Summer hissed, sucking the black rope into her hand. "This dress is my favorite! I'm bleeding all over it!"

"And I'll have to redo my hair." Winter hauled him into an empty room. "Why didn't you just stop him with your magic, sister?"

She shrugged a bit. "Instinct, I guess."

"Ah, yes. Sometimes it just acts on its own." The blue-eyed woman grabbed him by the wrists and pressed him against a wall. When her hands left, black, gunky adhesive stuck him to it. She then did the same for his ankles despite his kicking, while Summer wiped an ebony smear across his lips to silence his cries. "Thanks. He was giving me a headache."

"I wonder if he has any friends." She pinned him down with a glare. "Are you alone?" He nodded furiously. "And I'm supposed to believe you? Hmph."

Winter fingered the wound in her own skull – which by now was a pinprick – and frowned. The bullet had been expelled and was stuck tenuously in her locks; her scratching made it drop to the floor. "Were you trying to rob us?" she asked, picking it up and showing it to him. "Because you came to the wrong house."

He didn't indicate either way. Summer began tapping her foot. "That's not an answer." With an angry groan, she left the room, growling "To hell with it. I'm going to go fix my dress. Be right back."

"Mm." She peered at their captive. "You and I are going to have a little chat when she gets back." His tears made her squint. "What? Do I sound displeased? I am. You _shot_ us."

His pleading moans leaked through the black gag until Summer returned, wearing the same dress she'd walked out in – but the bullet holes were gone, as were the crimson patches. "That's better."

"Welcome back. Would you mind taking his muzzle off?"

She did, pressing her palm against his lips and letting the gunk leak back into her body. They watched him gasp for air. "So, would you care to explain yourself?"

"Pl-please don't kill me..."

"Begging. Just like old times." Winter put a hand on Summer's shoulder and sighed. "In exchange for your life, we want the truth. I think that's a fair trade, don't you?"

Apparently not; he shook his head violently. "They'll kill me if I talk!"

"We'll do worse than that if you don't."

Summer, visibly uncomfortable now that the anger and adrenaline was wearing off, retreated to a corner and let her twin take charge. "Please talk. Please? We really won't hurt you if you do," she pleaded.

"I..." He hesitated, then fell quiet for a long time. "Oh, hell, I'm finished anyway. Our monitors intercepted your phone call about the portal and the magic. That's why I'm here."

The twins shared a surprised look. "Monitors? Who?" Winter demanded.

"The... oh God, I'm so dead... the NSA. They have a net over this whole area to prevent people from knowing about the _thing_. When you started talking about the portal they heard it. We got the call to silence you." He suddenly laughed. "My apologies for that, by the way. Are you Mystique or somethin? 'Cause you sure look like her," he noted, head tilted.

"No, I'm not. NSA?" She looked back at Summer, who was already searching on her smartphone.

"National Security Agency. A United States intelligence agency... monitors communications around the world... oh. It originated from a code deciphering unit founded during World War II," she noted with a blink. "What a surprise."

"If they intercepted our call..." A pit formed in Winter's stomach. "Are they going to go after the people we were talking to?"

He nodded rapidly. "Oh yeah. Someone's probably on their way now. The government doesn't mess around when the portal comes up."

"Ohhhhhh boy," Summer groaned, rubbing her face. "We're in trouble."

"Yes, we are." Winter turned back to their captive. "All right. You held up your end of the bargain," she said, recalling her makeshift restraints and letting him stand.

His face brightened. "Hey! You're really gonna let me go?"

"No." With a snap, she magically pressed his form into a gorgeous red cardinal, which chirped and hopped about on the oak floor. She was stunned silent by the distinct lack of something she expected to hear. "...he's not whispering either. Is there no native magic on this planet?" she wondered while leaving the room.

"How odd. I'd better make sure he stays put so we can change him back later." Summer picked up the bird and darted out after her, producing a cage from a small picture frame on the way to house him. "Are we going to call Dipper and Mabel?"

"We can't use our regular phones. _They'll_ hear us. It's best to just find them." Winter stooped mid-stride to pick up the pistol from the hallway floor. She angrily crushed it into a decorative paperweight and dropped it onto the couch on her way by. "We'll have to leave the bloodstains for now." After moving into the kitchen, she dropped to her knees on the fat travertine tiles. One of these yielded to the force of her fingers, lifting up and revealing a secret compartment with a square, silvery case. She tossed this to Summer and stood.

"Good thing you hid these, otherwise our new friend might have found them," the red-eyed woman sighed, opening it up. Two enormous black smartphones were inside, screens down. One had two fat turquoise stripes running horizontally across the back. The other was decorated with red polka dots. "These aren't compatible with the network here, are they?"

"I changed their internals before you arrived. I couldn't decide whether to keep our phones or just get new ones." Her face dropped with remorse. "I wish I'd picked differently. I keep making mistakes and look how much it costs everyone." She barely staved off the tears as Summer gave her a one-armed hug.

"No point in blaming yourself. We can still fix this," she encouraged firmly. "You have _me_ to help you now."

"...right." She wiped her eyes. "Hopefully this encryption will be enough." She took the blue-striped one out and turned it on. While Summer grabbed the other phone, she glanced at her seven-person long contacts list and smiled. "Mm." That happy feeling died fast. "Lock the house down while I go get cleaned up and get ready to go." Her eyes went to the wall clock beside the front door. It was just after 11:30. "They should still be at the shack. If not... it might already be too late."


	14. Protective Custody

They tore through the trees, feet never touching the ground. If a change of direction was needed, they sprung off the trunks like pinballs and kept on going, following the distinct hum. Their impacts made the cedars and pines rattle, scattering birds and squirrels and whatever else occupied the branches. Before long, they found themselves in roughly the same area of Summer's dinosaur. Since it was noon, the thick canopy above only allowed thin spears of sunlight through.

"Do you really think this government would go after children?" the red-eyed woman asked loudly.

Winter's lips curled down faintly. "I don't know, but I can't risk it."

"No, I understand. I'll die before I let something happen to them."

There was nothing else to say. Winter saw the clearing first and steered toward it, dropping to the ground and walking the rest of the way. Though she hadn't planned to, they ended up at the back of the house. "It's quiet."

Summer's brow furrowed. "I hope that's not bad."

"Mm. You take the left. I'll go right."

The twins split up and moved across the grass, ready to unleash absolute hell on anything they encountered. Winter peeked into each window as she moved past, looking for any of the Pines. Every room was empty. Her side of the shack had signs for cover, so she darted behind one and peered into the front yard. Stan's old sedan was there, along with a black Dodge Charger which glimmered in the intermittent sun. No people were about, so she moved by the main entrance and approached the gift shop. Voices became audible, so she crouched under the shop window and listened.

"Are the guns really necessary?" Stan. He sounded a bit nervous. "Wait. You here to arrest _me_? 'Cause if you are, I need like five minutes to, uh, say goodbye and not try to escape at all. I promise. Scout's honor!"

"Mister Pines, for the moment we just want to speak to your niece and nephew." Some other man Winter didn't recognize. "But I suggest not trying to leave Gravity Falls. Or the country."

"Ah, what about my sudden but totally planned vacation in Sweden?" A beat passed. "Don't glare at me like that. Look, I ain't lettin' you around those kids. Not while you're packin' heat. You want in? You ditch the guns."

"Sir, we're not leaving our weapons. Perhaps you'd like to wait in the car while we talk to them."

That was enough. But before she could move, a noise from the other side of the house made her hesitate. Two strange voices asked what it was; while they were distracted, she peeked around the corner to see her opposition. A pair of men in black suits were standing there, with holstered pistols on their hips. Summer poked her head out around the other corner and walked into view. Both drew their weapons and yelled at her to freeze.

"You people and your firearms," she complained, hands on her hips.

"What are you doin' here?" Stan asked. "Listen, I'm pretty sure this ain't got anything to do with you and... hoo, a murder would really hurt business. So let's not go there, all right?"

She cast a bright smile at him. "Oh, it'll be fine." The men yelled at her to put her hands up. "No!" she replied cheerfully. "I know what you're doing here and I don't think it's very nice. You want to shoot me? Go ahead."

Stan motioned wildly and tried to put himself between her and them. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa are you nuts? What did I just say about the murdering?" His eyes landed on Winter as she stepped out from cover. "Uh...?"

"How would you know what we're..." one of them said. Just then he noticed Stan's confusion. The moment he began to turn, Winter struck, launching herself with hands outstretched. With a telekinetic assist, she bashed their heads together to knock them out and let them drop to the porch.

"A little birdie told us," she said, straightening up and dusting off her jeans as she looked to Summer. "Take their guns."

"Uh. I don't. What?" Stan said, scratching his head. He stepped aside so the woman could take their weapons. "Thanks for the help, but don't you think that was a little dangerous?"

"Not at all," Summer assured him, her hands a blur as she unloaded the guns. She tossed them away and dropped their ammunition in the nearby trash can. "Where are Mabel and Dipper?"

He motioned at the house. "In their room. You... you said you knew?"

"Yes." As Winter opened the door to the shop, the kids fell out and onto her legs.

"What the heck is going on?!" Dipper shouted, trying to untangle himself from his equally frantic sister. "Who was yelling?" He looked up and noticed just whose feet he was sitting on. "Who are these... wait, when did you get here?"

Mabel was ready to fight. "Am I gonna have to choke a-" She fell silent and looked at the unconscious bodies. "Dang, Grunkle Stan."

He pointed at Winter. "Don't look at me. She did it."

"Even better! Girl power!" Grinning, she gave the blue-eyed woman a high-five.

Dipper, on his feet at last, squinted at the yard. "Is that a pistol? What on Earth did we miss?"

"They know," Summer said, grabbing everyone's attention. "Our phone call this morning was intercepted."

"You know what? I don't need to hear this. I got enough outstanding warrants as it is." Stan departed with some awkward whistling and shut the shop door behind him.

Mabel shook her head at him before getting back on topic. "I'm guessing this is about the portal thing, which by the way I can't even deal with anymore. I'm just being straight up with you guys. My friggin' brain hurts."

"Oh man. Oh man." Dipper was searching one of the suits for some sort of ID. He eventually found a wallet and opened it. "FBI. Oh my gosh. You cannot be—I... can't." He sat down heavily and started to panic. "I swear I did not think it was this big oh gosh what about Soos and Wendy oh gosh oh gosh-"

"Get a grip!" Mabel demanded, shaking him. "They didn't call! They're fine. I think." Her face grew pale. "But you've got a point, bro."

"We'd better make sure they're all right. Someone already paid a visit to our house," Winter advised. "And tried to kill us."

"Hooooooooooooly crap. Okay. We're done. We are all done." Dipper paced around the porch, hands on his hand and panting with terror. "What were they gonna do with us?! I... I feel woozy."

"So wait, did you guys get away?" Mabel asked, better able to focus on their plight right now. Her brown eyes betrayed the fact that she was starting to panic a little herself.

"He was a terrible shot," Summer replied with a smirk.

"I'm going to dispose of these men," Winter said, hefting one of the knocked out agents up in her arms. Horrified gasps from the young twins made her face screw up. "Not kill them, just drive them out of here." They still looked uneasy despite her assurance. "Oh, never mind."

Mabel sat where she stood, watching the blue-eyed woman throw the first agent into the back of the Charger. "We're gonna die, aren't we?"

"They'll have to go through me first." Summer pounded a fist into her palm. She lifted the other agent with her power and threw him at Winter, who caught him the same way and put him in the car. They watched her drive away. "Gravity Falls seems to be one giant secret. It even started that way, if I understand Pacifica right."

"Y-yeah," Dipper muttered, sitting down with his sister. "There's a whole cache of classified information in a hidden cavern in the cemetery." He drew back at Summer's surprised look. "Oh yeah! We, uh—we should have mentioned that, huh? Ahaha. Oops. We totally forgot."

"Hee. That statue picked my nose." Mabel couldn't hold on to her smile for long. "Seriously. Are we gonna die? I want a straight answer."

That made her remember the dream, and the dream grated on her nerves. Every muscle became tense. "I told you, they'll have to go through me first," she said, fists clenched by her sides. "And they will not succeed." Silence made her look back at them. "Oh. Sorry. I..." She frowned. They were clinging to each other in terror. "It'll be fine."

"Y-y-you scary, girl," Mabel stuttered violently.

"Wh-what she said," Dipper agreed.

Awkwardly, they all waited for Winter to return. No one knew what to say, and so nothing was said – only the birds and wind managed to break the silence that engulfed them. Feeling her presence was making things worse, Summer put some distance between herself and the Pines by sitting on the steps.

"You're not afraid? At all?" Mabel suddenly asked.

"I'm terrified for you. Not for me," she replied, slumping over a bit. "The only way they can hurt me _is_ by hurting you." This she added at whisper volume, unable to muster the strength to make it louder.

"But... the government is after you and you're just like, what? Whatever? Are you kidding me?" Dipper stood up and sat beside her. "I know you have power and all, but..." His voice failed. "Wait. You've always had it."

Mabel perked up and moved to join them. "Have you been running forever? Is that why you're all super-cool over here like a boss?"

"I told you not to worry about our childhoods," Summer answered with a sad smile. The intensity in their eyes made her sit up straight. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"This is our fault. We should have gone with you." Frustrated, Dipper removed his cap and growled. "No, no, no. I should have gone. Then the phone call never would have happened. Someone wouldn't have tried to murder you and... and I don't even know what this would have turned into," he concluded, waving at the spot where the agents had been lying.

"Hold up, it's my bad," Mabel countered. "If I hadn't been such a... me. Ugh. I really gotta work on facing stuff sometimes, you know?" She hugged her legs and rocked back and forth. "Dipper said maybe some of those kids lived. Maybe you're not the only two with telekawhatitsface and fairy powers. Maybe..."

"Gravity Falls was talking to you," he interrupted. "What if it was trying to say you might not be alone?"

Desperate to find something positive in the burgeoning insanity, Mabel flashed a huge grin. "She's not alone! She's got Winter! But, yeah, I get it."

"I didn't always have her."

Gasping, the twins looked up. "What?" Dipper asked.

Now it was Summer hugging her knees. "We were together once. For a while. Then it happened." Searing pain marred her face, leaving her quiet for several seconds. "We were separated. We roamed the country just trying to survive. We... I... I did awful things to stay alive." She hid her face in shame and wept quietly. "I had lost my memory of her, so I was alone – in every way – for a long, long time. It was dumb luck that she found me again in the first place."

"Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine not having dorkbreath over here around," Mabel admitted while wiping her eyes. "Or being _special_ like you and thinking I'm the only one in the whole freakin' world like that." She happened to glance up and yelped; Winter was standing there, arms folded and frowning. "Agh! Don't sneak, yo. I'm scared enough."

"You can't figure out why you ended up like this and all you want is someone to understand," she said lowly, hearkening back to what she'd said to the golden existence in the hospital. "To make it... to make it better." Tears clung to her cheeks.

It was a statement Summer had heard many times before, but her completion of it was a little different. She raised up and put on her bravest face. "But there's no one to make it better for us except each other."

"And for that, I am glad." A little grunt escaped as the red-eyed woman fell on her in a hug.

Mabel hopped to her feet as well, fighting her melancholy with a series of inane little dances. "What about your mom and dad? Weren't they looking for you?"

"Our parents were the ones who abandoned us to die in the first place," Summer explained quietly. Her ruby eyes were unbelievably sad – but her sister, once again, looked bitter.

"How could-" It was too much for Dipper. Face red with anger, he got up and walked over. "That's it. I'm coming with you. Wherever this goes, I'm coming with you. Nobody deserves that. Gosh, not even _Gideon_ , and I can't believe I really mean it."

Mabel was fighting mad once more. "Yeah!" she yelled, fists in the air. "Who the heck does that to their kids?! I hope they... well I mean I don't wanna say I hope they died 'cause that's not my call, but oh wow." She grabbed one hand for each twin and smiled. "I just wanna say you guys turned out really awesome. So forget them."

"Yeah," he agreed with a smile. "You really did."

"How nice of you," Summer grinned, patting them both on the head. "All right, we have things to worry about. Wendy and Soos."

"They should be fine, right?" Dipper tapped his foot in thought. "Unless they called each other about it, but... hmm. We'd better make sure."

Mabel raised her hand. "What about Grunkle Stan? We gotta let him know too. He's probably freaking out right now." She nodded to him, then to the older twins. "All right, we'll be right back. You guys gonna run home and get your ride?"

"I brought it," Winter replied, pulling a toy car from her jeans pocket. She set it on the ground, ushered them away, and snapped it into the red BMW. "Easier to carry when it's small."

" _Wow_. I mean... wow." Dipper shook his head with amazement and turned for the house. "I am never gonna get used to that, fairy or not."

Still nervous, the Pines sneaked into the gift shop as if expecting an ambush. Stan wasn't in there, but the open living room door gave them a clue where to start looking. They poked their heads through and found him fidgeting in the recliner. "Hey!" he greeted. "We all good out there?"

"Not even close," Mabel explained cheerfully. "Listen, the government's all mad at us now or whatever because we found something we shouldn't have and they may, _may_ , try to murder us all in cold blood. But Summer and Winter are gonna protect us. And before you ask how, don't even worry! They're a lot stronger than they look."

"Even though they look strong enough already," Dipper added. "I think... I think we might have to leave for your protection, though. I'm sure we can crash at their place for a while." The old man's face dropped, which made him frown too. "Yeah. It's gonna get crazy."

As Stan opened his mouth to respond, Mabel jumped into his lap and gave him a hug. "No no no. Shhhhh. This ish is about to get handled, I promise. We probably won't even have to be gone long! Now, we're all going to go check on Soos and Wendy 'cause _the man_ is listening to phone calls and—I'm in a movie now. Sheesh. Once the heat's off we'll come back and grab some stuff, okay? Okay. Love you! Take care of Waddles, please! For real this time!"

He could barely get out a stunned "Yeah, fine, sure. Love you too, kids! Be careful!" before they were gone. He needed a moment to find the gumption to stand and rush to the gift shop door, swinging it open just in time to see the sedan disappearing behind the trees. "Heh. For _my_ protection. Ain't this ironic." He doffed his glasses for a moment to rub at his eyes. "Welp. Guess the day's finally come. Shoulda known it wouldn't stay buried forever." After retreating inside, he paused to stare at the vending machine. "I wonder if it's my fault for turnin' the stupid thing on again?"

* * *

The plan was simple: get back home where the identical twins could protect Mabel and Dipper until they had a better assessment of the situation. To that end they were heading back toward Gravity Falls, barely hampered by the lunchtime traffic – although everyone in the car was keeping a close eye out for any black, four-door automobiles.

"Man, this isn't how I expected my Sunday to go," Dipper admitted with a sigh. He and Mabel were in the back, with her on the driver's side. "Are you sure you guys are okay? I mean, I'd be losing it a little if someone tried to murder me."

"It's not the first time someone's tried to kill us," Winter stated, but went no farther. The Pines exchanged an uncertain glance.

Before things could get more awkward, Summer noticed something on the side of the road coming toward them. It was someone on a bike – someone with long red hair flowing in the wind from under their helmet. "Is that...?" she said, motioning a little.

"Wendy!" Mabel shouted. She rolled down her window and yelled out at the top of her lungs. "Wendy! Hey! Come here! We gotta talk to you!"

After checking for cars, the redhead pedaled across the highway and pulled up on the passenger side as the BMW stopped on the shoulder. "Hey, what's up?" she greeted, removing her helmet. "I was just on my way to see Mister Pines about my paycheck."

"Don't go," Dipper warned her. "The FBI was there, looking for _us_. They know we know about the portal."

"And they tried to kill Summer and Winter too!" Mabel added, much too cheerful for the gravity of her words.

"Wh-what?" Wendy exclaimed, almost falling off her bike in shock. "Are they gonna come after me too?"

"That depends," Winter said. "Have you spoken to Soos about it since last night? Especially by phone?"

She wiped her brow with a trembling hand. "Nah, man, I haven't talked to him at all. I've been out in the woods since six AM 'cause dad needed an extra bucker."

"Good. See to it that you don't. We're taking Mabel and Dipper to our house to keep an eye on them, but as long as you don't mention this to anyone, you shouldn't have any problems."

"However, we'll drop by to check on you later," Summer added with a reassuring smile. "We just want to make sure these two are safe first."

"Yeah, yeah. I gotcha. Wow." She looked around, trying to collect her bearings. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"I don't know, and I don't know if I wanna find out." Dipper gave Summer's seat a gentle tap. "Hey, could you make some of those phones for us? It could really come in handy."

"Maybe," she nodded, looking at the one in her lap. "It make take some time to clone them. We won't be able to add them to our phone plan until tomorrow anyway."

Wendy's eyes shone with deep anxiety, a look so unusual for her nature it made Dipper's heart sink. "So... what? Should I just go back home?"

Mabel gave her a thumbs up and a smile. "Yeah, and grab a gun! Maybe Grunkle Stan has a few you can borrow."

"Pfff, yeah. We got enough weapons as it is." She put her helmet back on and prepared to depart. "All right. Catch you guys later. And be careful."

"Same to you." Once she was on her way, silence flooded the car. Summer glanced back and nodded with a frown. With a sigh, the blue-eyed woman tried to find a comforting tone. "I know it's frightening, but we're not going to let anything happen to you."

"Trust us," Summer added with a dark glare.

They arrived at the house a few minutes later. Winter stayed in the car while her sister went to sweep the house – both for threats and to remove the remnants of the previous attack. Mabel was unusually quiet, fidgeting like Dipper was beside her. At last, she looked up and gently poked the back of the driver's seat to get attention. "Hey, Winter?"

She looked over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"How much of us talkin' to Summer did you hear?"

Scowling, she slumped and closed her eyes. "I heard her talk about us getting separated. After it happened, I didn't know she existed either. We both had amnesia."

"I get the impression she had a worse time," Dipper said. "I mean... you weren't crying."

"We deal with it in different ways." Her head dropped a bit. "But I have the same impression. There's a lot of things she won't talk about."

Mabel nodded. "Oh. We don't tell each other everything either. Some stuff we should, it's just... hard. I dunno how to ask the questions or fnd the words or be brave enough, you know?"

"I completely understand." Winter checked her watch. "If she's not back in a few minutes, I'm-" A flash of silver caught her eye; Summer had just walked out the front door. She displayed a thumbs up before heading back inside. "Good. Let's go."

"Woohoo! Dangerous government conspiracy sleepover!" Mabel cheered – or at least, tried to cheer – as they left the car.

Dipper gave his best to match her happiness, fake or not. "Heh. Yeah. It's a sleepover. Except there's apparently the chance we might not wake up. Man. Mom and dad are gonna have a fit."

Winter sighed quietly and smiled. "We'll see how long you need to stay. Hopefully everyone involved will come to their senses."

"What if they don't? Will you kill them?"

Mabel had asked her question just as they reached the porch. "If we have to," she decided after a moment. "But we would rather not."

After thinking on it, the girl issued a single nod. "Good enough for me. Can we get pizza?"

"Yes. We never did go shopping. _Someone_ interrupted us." Winter lead them into the house. While the Pines got comfy on the sofa – and started to fight over the remote – Summer began to compile a list of things to buy.

Dipper noticed the bird during his spat and blinked. "Hey. Nice cardinal," he said, while holding the remote out of Mabel's reach. "When did you get it? You catch it or something?"

"No. That's the man who tried to kill us. I changed him into a bird."

"Arooooo?" Mabel exclaimed, almost falling off the sofa with surprise. She dashed to the cage and stared at the bird. "But... but it's a... what?! You can't just change people like that!"

The blue-eyed woman just shrugged. "Sure we can. People are made of matter. We can affect matter." A curiosity was beginning to seep in, however. She gently removed the cardinal and motioned the girl away. "I want to see something. Stand back." With a snap, she caused the bird to unfurl into its previous form – the terrified would-be assassin, who gasped for air as if he'd been drowning. Spooked, Mabel ran away and clung to her brother. "Oh. Good. I just wanted to make sure."

"Gah! Lady, please! Please don't turn me back! No!" he begged, hands up.

Winter had the snap ready, but hesitated. "Why?"

"'Cause it feels weird as he-"

Rolling her eyes, she finished her motion and smashed him back into a cardinal. The Pines' horrified looks made her blanch. "What?"

"I think you've crossed a line," Mabel whimpered. "Man, that was heartless! You didn't even let him finish."

Dipper nodded. He was trembling. "She has a point. Can't you just let him go?"

"No." That wasn't enough for them; she knew it by the glimmer in their eyes. Sighing, she put the bird back into the cage and sat on the couch. They were reluctant to join her. "It's okay. Come on. Sit with me."

Ages passed before they obliged, taking seats on either side of her. "I don't think you can or should just transform people against their will," Mabel said.

"I know. We defended ourselves against him. We wouldn't change someone just to change someone." Her hands came to rest on her knees. "Think about it. All we've done since we got here was try to blend in."

"True," Dipper acknowledged quietly. "Still, though, it's... I dunno, hard to deal with, I guess." He jumped a bit as Summer leaned down beside him.

"It's okay to be uneasy around something you don't understand," she said with a smile. "Sometimes it messes with us too. Why do you think we use the ability so sparingly?"

Mabel relaxed a little. "You know, she's got a point. If I could do it I'd be drowning in giant hamster balls. And Corvettes!"

"Perhaps we're too used to having nothing to really want much of anything," Winter pondered, looking down as the girl gave her another hug. "Mm. It doesn't matter. We'll take care of you, and if someone tries to hurt us we'll have to act."

"Whatever that means," Summer added gravely.

"Then we'd better get this over with as soon as possible." Dipper straightened his hat and hopped off the couch. "And the only place I know to start is the graveyard. Come on. We've got a secret passageway to re-find." Despite his efforts to look determined, he wilted in short order. "Still feels like this is our fault. At least a little."

"It's nothing you did. Actually, Gideon was the one who pointed us there in the first place."

They looked at Winter with curious eyes. "Hey, at least one thing hasn't changed," Mabel said with a grin. "Whenever something goes wrong, it's Gideon's fault."


	15. Angel of the Pit

Even in daytime, Gravity Falls' cemetery was a depressing wreck – in fact, the sunlight made it look worse. There was a problem not encountered on the identical twins' previous visit, too: an audience. Several had seen the red BMW pass by, and some of them followed to see what was going on. A nice clump of folks – a few of whom Winter and Summer had already had sessions with – met them as they tried to enter the graveyard.

The group's natural spokeswoman tried to make them disperse. "Now, now, I know everyone is super excited about ghost talker whisperers being in a graveyard and all, but... what?" Mabel tilted her head, trying to hear one voice above the clamor. "No, you can't come with us. Why? What if you scare the ghosts off? Ever think of that?"

"That can happen," Summer added. "Some spirits are pretty timid."

The girl crossed her arms and nodded. "Yeah, see? What she said."

"Mhm. So if you wouldn't mind, we need to go investigate—huh? Autographs?" Dipper looked up at the women and shrugged. "I dunno, what do you think?"

Winter's only desire was to get them to leave. If this was the means to that end, she was happy to oblige. "If they want," she replied quietly. "Does anyone have a pen?"

Two dozen signatures later, they were finally on their way through the lopsided headstones and dead trees. "You guys are a little more popular than I thought," Dipper said, looking around for the pointing angel. "Wait, there it is."

"Oo! Can I let it pick my nose again?"

He rolled his eyes a bit. "Ew, no. You had nosebleeds for two days afterward, remember?"

Mabel's face went blank. "Oh yeah. Everything tasted like iron, even sugar. Wasn't very fun. I hated eating."

"I know exactly how you must have felt," Summer muttered as she walked past with her sister.

"Yeah! Huh?" Her eyes became curious, but she held off on asking for clarification since they had arrived at the statue. It stood a fair distance away from Wilhelm Seifert's empty corner. "Who wants to pull the finger? Ha! Pull the finger." She snorted a few more times, which provoked some eye-rolling from Dipper.

Summer did the honors. They stepped back as the concrete slab withdrew, revealing a cobweb-laden, dusty staircase. "Oh my. How interesting," she said, stooping to peer down into the darkness.

"Yep. The booby traps shouldn't be a problem since Mabel set them off the last time we were here." He watched Winter produce her enormous phone, then proceed down the steps. "Good idea. We're right behind you."

The screen's white light cast a ghostly shine through the narrow cavern, exaggerating its craggy features and pushing out long shadows in front of them. Once in a while, the glint of a plastic wrapper would catch their eyes. Each time one appeared Mabel dashed ahead and picked it up. "I'm such a litterbug!" she scolded herself. "Gave away our location _and_ ruined the environment. Wow, me."

"I'm pretty sure the giant open hole in a cemetery with a staircase gave us away more than your candy," Dipper assured her. Up ahead, the dirt was littered with large darts. "Oh, thank goodness. Looks like it's safe."

"What are these?" Winter asked, gently kicking one as she moved through the mess.

"Tranquilizers!" Mabel explained cheerfully. "Oh man, Deputy Durland got hit with like, twenty of them. It was _so_ funny."

He smirked a little. "Heh, yeah." The corridor suddenly dropped off into a cylindrical tunnel that curved toward the right. "Okay, we just slide down through here and we're good." Suddenly, he was floating. "Gah! What the heck?!" he yelped, arms flailing.

Mabel had a similar issue, minus the terrified sounds. "I'm... I'm flying! Huh, it feels nothing like my dreams. Man. I'm disappointed." She began to giggle uncontrollably. "It sure tickles though! Pfffffff!"

Summer was the one suspending them. "Why slide when we can fly?" She grinned as Winter zipped down the hole. "Here we go!"

They screamed as she dragged them along after her. Rock flashed by at spine-chilling speed, but she kept them right in the center of the passage until they popped out into the cache and she floated them to a gentle standing stop. "Dude!" Dipper scolded, trying to shake off the weird tingling that plagued his exposed skin. "Ask permission first!"

A sheepish Summer kicked at the ground and pouted. "Sorry. I really like to fly." Her face dropped as she looked around. "I feel something." A lot of somethings; the cavern was pockmarked with hardly-perceptible little sparks.

Mabel gave her a pat on the back. "Aw, I thought it was fun! Once I realized I wasn't gonna splatter against the cave and all. What do you feel? More magic whatevers?" Once the adrenaline faded she realized someone was missing. "I think Winter left us."

The blue-eyed woman was just about to round a corner in front of them, though she pointed her phone backwards over her shoulder so they'd have some light to see by. "They've been storing magical artifacts here?" she asked, eying an axe and sword at her feet. "Why didn't we notice them before?"

Her sister picked up the sheathed weapon to contemplate its markings. It certainly had enough dust to be old, but its features held no meaning for her. "Their signature probably got soaked up by the ground. I barely detect them even being this close."

"So, wait. This stuff has magic?" Dipper watched as Mabel ran over and grabbed the nearest item, an old telescope with a gilded exterior mounted on a flimsy tripod.

"I command you to give me a... a... bagel! Boom!" she yelled, pointing it at a stack of musty papers. "Bagelography commence! Bagelfy! Bagel... nothin'? Aw, really. Hey, how am I supposed to magic stuff again?"

Winter blinked when the girl looked to her for advice. "I don't think our power is something you can teach. You just have to... have it."

She threw up her arms in frustration. "Ugh! Fine. Dipper, hold my hairband so I can go find a gamma ray burst or a mutant spider or something."

He shook his head, took her by the hand, and headed for some nearby shelves. "Mabel, please. Remember why we're here."

"I don't wanna. It's depressing." She kept on whining as he dragged her away. "Last chance! Embagelize! No? A pox on your house, useless spyglass!"

Despite their smiles, the identical twins moved to a rickety bookcase full of manila folders and got to work. "A cache of enchanted objects and reading classified documents in a musty room," Winter mumbled. "It's like I'm reliving that day all over again." But this memory brought her a smile. "That was a good day."

"It sure was," Summer agreed, shuffling through yellowed papers. "I don't know these names. Lincoln? Franklin?"

"Keep looking. Seifert must have worked on the portal or knew someone who did." A few glances were afforded to their company, who were chattering over who knew what. She didn't feel the need to check, as it didn't sound like an argument. "If we could figure out how these were arranged..."

"Hey! Guys!" Mabel yelled. "I found something about a... Dipper say this for me."

"I'm kinda still reading it. I mean, what of it I _can_ read."

They elected to walk over and see what was up themselves instead of continuing to speak at range. "What is it?" Winter asked as she arrived.

"Something called Project Apollyon," Dipper murmured to himself. "I've heard that word before but I can't remember what it means." His eyes darted uncertainly along, soaking up the type as fast as possible. "Soos' note mentioned the Seifert guy the Duskertons were talking about. I found his name in here." He handed the file over. Much of the text was censored with black bars.

Quickly, Winter flipped back to the first page to get an idea about what she was looking at. The project name was centered on the front, but almost everything on the back was blacked out – save for a list of names. None of these struck her as familiar until she got to the last one: Dietrich Seifert, Ph.D. "This isn't the man we talked to," she indicated with a frown. "His first name is Wilhelm."

Mabel shuddered with disgust, shrinking into her starry red sweater and whining. "Crap! There's more than one!"

He gave her a few light prods to make the noise stop. "Um, he's gotta have a family. Most people do. I mean, if they are related."

"So much of this is censored," Summer complained as her sister turned the pages. "Wait." Her slender finger landed on a phrase halfway down one page. "What's this? A gravity hill?"

Winter's face twisted in thought. "Hmm. I'm not sure." Everyone looked over when Dipper cleared his throat for attention.

"Oh boy, get ready for a Broface Level Explanation," Mabel groaned.

He crossed his arms and fired an annoyed look at her before proceeding. "It's an optical illusion. The surrounding landscape makes a descending slope look like a rising one, so sometimes it looks like a ball or a car is rolling uphill when it shouldn't. There's one in Gold Hill, a place called the Oregon Vortex. I thought the Mystery Shack was one too, but I guess something real is going on around there."

"If it's an illusion, why is it in this thing?" Summer asked. "This doesn't seem like the sort of document you'd use to talk about visual tricks."

"Unless it's a euphemism for something." Winter continued to thumb through the file. Her efforts were greeted by page after page of censored text, where only minor or useless words were left exposed. Dietrich Seifert's named continued to pop up, however. After a moment, she came to the last document, where she found printed and centered "Project Summary, Eyes Only" and "United States Department of War" below that. They knew the War Department from their own research. "I suspect this is a distillation of facts for a bunch of bureaucrats. We should look for other documentation. Internal documentation, if we can find it."

Dipper's head tilted at that conclusion. "Um... how would you know it's a just a summary?" He peered at the file when she lowered it for him to see. "War Department. There was a War Department?"

Summer flashed him a smile. "It's the Department of Defense now. Has been since 1949."

"Oh."

"So we know there's a project, but not where the project is, what the project did, who ran the project, or if the project worked," Mabel surmised, tapping her foot. "You think what we need is in here too? It'd make sense to have it all in one spot."

"That's not how a secret works," Winter countered, putting the file away. "Data is compartmentalized to an extreme. Everyone knows what they need to know and no more. Paperwork is spread out through so many different agencies and organizations that an outsider trying to piece together the truth would give up out of frustration." An awkward lack of noise made her cease talking and look. The Pines stood there in dumbfounded silence. "What?"

"Uh, how would you know?" Dipper asked plainly.

Summer did her best to cover for her, shifting anxiously from heel to heel "You sure love your spy novels," she said happily.

"Ha, well. This file's a start, anyway. We know something happened, and now we know a Seifert was involved... at least, it seems. How would we find out for sure?" The answer was obvious, but unpalatable. He slumped over with a heavy sigh. "Mabel, we're gonna have to talk to him."

"Talk to who?" she chirped falsely, trying to hide her revulsion with a canyon-wide smile. "Who? Who... oh gosh please no." Her effort broke with a painful wretch. "No! I don't wanna talk to him, dang it! He's... he's like twelve million Gideons squished together! No!"

"Maybe there's a reason for what he did." They all looked to Summer, whose pensive tone released a chill into the air. Her eyes got wide. "He said it saved the world. I guess he thinks people like us are dangerous."

"Balderdash!" Mabel exclaimed in protest. "You're twins! Twins are never bad. Okay, yeah, sometimes you freak me out with the powers and the changy stuff, but you haven't hurt anyone-

"Um, they killed some fairies," Dipper interrupted. He ducked a vicious swipe that nearly took off his hat.

"-since you got here," she resumed with a pointed look, "and actually you've helped a lot! So he's wrong. Completely wrong." The identical twins' melancholic silence made her cringe. "Yo, I'm trying to encourage you over here. Smile. Dang. Give me _something._ "

Winter's reply was chillingly quiet. "Is he? Given all the things we can do..."

"No you don't." Summer scolded her with a firm slap on the back and frowned. "Stop. You're the cool-headed one, remember? It's fine."

"I'm with Mabel. Your abilities just take some getting used to, that's all." Dipper was back to the shelves, hunting for more relevant information. "Come on. Let's be sure there's nothing else here before we leave."

Mabel went over to assist him, though it took a moment for her to get her sweater sleeves out of the way. "Or talking to evil people. Can we not do that?"

"Sometimes it's easy to mistake things – or people – as evil."

Summer tried to jostle the gloom out of her sister. "Enough of that. Let's go read more things we're not supposed to read!"

She rolled her icy eyes and submitted. "Oh, fine." With quick steps, she moved to some shelving near where the Pines were and started to browse. "I still want to know why some of these objects have magical charges."

"One mystery at a time," Dipper sighed. "I haven't found anything yet that wasn't related to Millard Fillmore secretly being a collection of ducks. Any luck over there?"

After some paper shuffling and brief reading, Summer replied with a confused look. "I've got one that says Montana was originally meant to be West Dakota?"

"Pff! West Dakota." Bored, Mabel was toddling about between piles of artifacts. A bright light suddenly blinded her. "Hey!" she complained, throwing up an arm. "Dipper, stop with the flashlight!"

"We're not using a flashlight." Realization struck all four of them at the same time. "Uh..."

"You know, I wish you would stop breakin' in here," Sheriff Blubs complained, pointing his beam at the floor. "My uniform gets so dusty. At least I know the alarm system works."

"Hey, Sheriff!" Mabel greeted with a smile. "Where's your buddy?"

Blubs shrugged a little. "Feelin' a little under the weather." He directed the flashlight at the other set of twins. "They roped you into this too? Shame on you, kids."

Neither Winter nor Summer said anything; since their young friends didn't seem to be particularly terrified, they decided to see how things would play out before acting – or reacting.

Mabel tsked a few times. "Aw. Tell him we hope he feels better."

"Why, thank you. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Now, you're all under arrest for endangering national security. Again." He expected his stern tone and expression to get the ball rolling, but none of his would-be prisoners moved a step. "Don't sass me. I know you heard what I said."

"What, are we gonna get another free trip to Washington in a freaking _box_?" Dipper snarked, hands on his hips.

"Ooo, maybe I'll finally get to go to Congress!" She produced a top hat from under her sweater, popped it open and placed it carefully on her head. "Also, I don't think you can arrest me because I'm a congressman. Pretty sure that's how it works."

After an exchange of slightly confused glances, the older twins decided it was time to act. "You're interrupting our investigation," Summer informed him politely. "I don't think the spirits like you."

Winter silently leveraged her power to start lifting objects behind the Sheriff as he laughed her off. "Please, you think I buy that ghost mumbo jumbo? You're probably just like Gideon." He nodded at Mabel as she made a gagging sound. "I feel you, honey."

"I think you'd better start buying it," Dipper advised, pointing toward and around him while putting on his best fearful act. "Because..."

"Huh?" He looked up and found himself staring at a cloud of weapons and objects, all of which had their pointiest, deadliest, or most painful-looking ends pointed right at him. "Uh. Well. I stand corrected."

"If you value your life, you should leave," Summer concluded with a sunny grin.

He did – with incredible haste, leaving a series of amazingly girly screams in his wake. While the elder twins went about replacing all the objects, Dipper moved to the tunnel and looked up it. "How did he climb this?"

Mabel poked at her hat and grinned. "Whatevs, bro, we won." A consideration chased her smile away. "Wait, you think he knows we know about the portal? Maybe we shoulda tied him up or something."

"I'm less worried about him than the others. He didn't even have a gun." Winter pulled another file and began to flip through the pages. It was a document about how Georgia grew very few peaches, but won the "Peach State" moniker in a secret game of poker. "Oh, I don't care about this," she growled, tossing it back and walking away. "We need to speak with Wilhelm. There's no way around it."

Dipper put his hand over Mabel's mouth to muffle her long-winded, whiny 'nooooo'. "Ugh. I don't like the idea either, but you're right. Let's just get it over with."

Summer lifted them again and prepared to depart, but her sister didn't do the same. "Hmm? Are you coming?" she asked.

"In a second," Winter nodded, picking up the same old sword and examining it. She watched them leave, then waited a few seconds more to make sure they were gone before looking down at the blade. Her palm split open, letting out a small sprout of black gunk. When she pressed that to the sword, its spark began to fade, joining the enormous chorus of formless whispers that occupied her own brain as it flowed through the ebony substance. "Hmm. It really is magic." She tossed the now silent object aside and frowned before taking off through the tunnel.

The Pines and Summer were waiting for her at the base of the stairs. "We still doin' this? Maaaaaaaybe I should wait in the car," Mabel suggested as she walked by. "'Cause, you know, German cars are like, super-safe. Almost as safe as Volvos!"

"Absolutely not. I don't want to risk something happening to you if you're out of our sight." She poked her head out and glanced around suspiciously. While the cemetery seemed to be empty, much of her view from this height was blocked by gravestones and monuments. "Hmm. Summer, come with me. You two stay down here for a moment." They emerged into the sunshine and cast a long, sweeping look at their surroundings. The red BMW was still parked along the sidewalk outside the gate; nobody was nearby, so the crowd must have given up and left. In fact, to Winter, the area looked a little _too_ unoccupied. "Hmm. I see what you were saying about paranoia," she muttered to her sister. "I already felt like someone was watching me. Now I know they are."

She nodded at that with a sigh. "Oh, yes." Her eyes went to the empty corner. "Should we try talking to him now?"

That notion was denied with a nod over her shoulder. "No. Let's go and get these two settled in first. The less stressful we can make it for them, the better." With a few snaps, she got the kids' attention and motioned for them. "Come on, it's fine."

"Yay, but... boo," Mabel groaned, fearing what came next. "Please just let me leave. I'll hide somewhere. I swear."

Summer broke the good news with a big smile. "We're not going to talk to him now. We have shopping to do first!"

"Woo!" she replied, throwing her arms into the sky. In fact, she repeated the sound and motion a few more times until Dipper stopped her with a jab to the back. "Hey!"

"She said _now_ ," he reminded her with a small frown. "It's gonna happen eventually."

"Blargh. You always gotta rain on my parade, bro."

They weaved through the headstones and back to the sedan, piling in almost all at once and driving away. What none of them noticed as they headed back toward downtown was the squad car parked at the far end of the graveyard behind them. In it was Sheriff Blubs, caught between reluctance toward doing the thing he had to do, and the fear of what repercussions might come down on him if he hesitated any further. With Herculean effort, he finally made the call. "Control? It's, uh..."

"I know who it is, you're the only one with access to this frequency. Have you made the arrests?"

"There was a problem," he said with a gulp. "Ghosts. They got mad at me and I had to, you know, leave."

"...you're serious."

"Nah. I'm joki—yes."

"Sheriff, I don't think I need to remind you that the government already has a kill order on those women. Bring us the kids – at least – or something terrible may happen to your next re-election attempt."

Blubs gasped with horror. "But then I'd have to get a real job!"

"How terrible. We could do worse, if you'd like."

"Fine, fine, I'll deal with it. It'll get dealt with and done." His face dropped with confusion. "Wait. If those two are supposed to be dead, why did I just see them alive?"

"What?"

Someone walking by caused him to glance out the window. His voice got low. "They're still alive."

"I... wow. Congratulations, Sheriff. You're not the biggest idiot I've dealt with today." The operator's voice changed as he complained to himself. "Charlie better be dead, for his sake. Otherwise... never mind." He returned to the topic at hand. "Arrest all of them. Don't call me again until you do."

"Yes, sir." Overwhelmed with relief after hearing the conversation-ending click, he slumped in the seat and tried to get his mental bearings. "I didn't sign up for this whole spy business. They oughta just get James Bond to do it. I ain't even got my deputy to help me!" Now he was fuming – or perhaps pouting. "Got me chasin' rich people all over town. Least they're more polite than the Northwests." He drove off after his quarry, grumbling lowly all the way.

* * *

He didn't find them at home. They made the briefest stop to pick up some money, but after that they ran around Gravity Falls for the better part of two hours buying all sorts of food. The trunk was full to bursting by the time they pulled up to the house. That didn't matter, however, when they noticed who was sitting on the steps: Stan Pines, looking as downtrodden as Mabel and Dipper had ever seen him, bracketed by two suitcases. Winter parked by the sidewalk since his old sedan occupied the driveway.

"Grunkle Stan?" Mabel called as they all emerged from the red BMW. "Whatcha doin' here?"

At first, he was only capable of a weak wave as he stood up. "Just, uh, bringing some of your stuff over. I would've broken in, but Blubs drove by lookin' for you and I got a little spooked."

"How... kind of you," Summer muttered with a frown.

For Dipper, the whole situation had reached a new plateau of seriousness. "Wait, we're really... I mean it was our idea yeah, but we usually get this stuff wrapped up in a day. You're gonna let us stay here?"

He shrugged weakly, eyes stuck to the grass. "I think it's best. I dunno what's going on here, but they seem to," he said, nodding to the identical twins. "They already saved ya once. I think I can trust 'em."

"Hmm." Winter leaned over and whispered something into Summer's ear; after that, the red-eyed woman beckoned Mabel and Dipper to follow her into the house. They did, but only reluctantly, and after a few seconds. Stan watched the kids go with a faint scowl. "You wanna talk to me, I guess?"

"Yes." She looked around for witnesses before speaking again. "I'll ask one more time: are you sure you haven't noticed anything strange?"

"Eh." He doffed his fez and looked everywhere but at her. "I'm just gonna tell you no until you believe me."

"Don't hold your breath."

Wilting on his feet, Stan finally made eye contact. Some undertone in her expression made his blood curdle. He tapped his fingers together anxiously. "I ain't sayin', sweetheart."

"Then I'll say it for you," she said, folding her arms. "We all know about the portal. And Summer and I specifically know something _else_ is going on at the Mystery Shack. Since the government is officially trying to murder us, and capture them, I'd like to get this dealt with as soon as possible. I'll give you two choices: you can talk, or one of us will drop by and find out some other way. Which is it?"

Winter's bluntness was stunning, but he emitted a sigh of – relief wasn't exactly correct, but some piece of a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. "All right. Listen, I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place over here. If the kids find out about this, I don't know what they'll think. This is some life-changin' stuff, you get me?"

Her brow cocked a bit. "Is keeping your secret worth putting them in danger?"

Stan replied without any hesitation. "Absolutely not. It's just... I kinda thought I'd be takin' it to my grave, you know?" he said with a chuckle. "And so did the guys in D.C. Can't say I blame 'em for wanting to off you two. Not that I ain't glad they screwed up." Thinking on that made him a little confused. "I figured they'd be, you know, competent. How _did_ they screw up?"

"They didn't. Let's just say neither of us are what we seem," she smiled lightly. Her expression faded as she got back to the point. "We're worried this might be bigger than Gravity Falls."

"That's a fair point, and honestly I don't know either way," he admitted, plopping the fez back onto his head. A deep breath later, Stan had made his choice. "Doesn't matter. I gotta help those kids get back to normal as quick as possible. Whatever normal means around here," he concluded with a weak snicker. In an instant, his expression became deadly serious. "Come by the shack tonight, but keep the kids away. I ain't ready for them to lay eyes on what I wanna show you. Not yet."


	16. Square One (Part One)

One of the empty rooms was now Dipper and Mabel's own, furnished with a pair of simple beds but not much else. The other twins were busy doing something with the house – though exactly what, they wouldn't say.

"Is it just me or did Grunkle Stan seem nervous?" Mabel asked, bouncing on her bed to test the mattress. It squeaked very little, but provided a lot of firm resistance. "Whoa. This thing is way better than what I got at the shack."

Dipper, who had been reading on his own bed, set the journal aside and recalled their goodbye. "I guess? He seemed kinda relieved too, though. Weird. Can you be both at once?"

"Huh. Maybe he's worried about us, but he's happy we're safe?"

"You're probably right." His thoughtful eyes went to the window. "Wonder how long we're gonna be here."

"Ah, it won't be long, bro. Between my awesomeness, their superpowers, and your whatever it is you've got, we'll have this handled in no time!" She ceased bouncing by falling spread eagle onto the mattress and stared around with a huge grin. "...I need posters."

"Speaking of them, I wonder what they're doing." He leaned toward the door and listened. "You hear anything?"

"Nope!" she replied happily, not even trying to listen. She was still making faces at the empty walls above her bed. "Relax, bro. I'm sure they'll tell us when they're finished."

Winter poked her head through the doorway, looking at the window before regarding either of the Pines. "Don't mind me," she said quietly. "I'll be done in a second."

"With what?" Dipper's face screwed up as she snapped a few times, though what she'd changed wasn't immediately apparent. "Um...?"

"Just thickening the panes," she said, running her fingers over the glass to check. "We've taken out all the doors except one. If anyone wants to get in, they'll have to come through the front. And at least one of us will be waiting on them."

Dipper stared into space while processing her words. "Huh. That sounds ominous."

"For good reason." She issued another snap; this time the window frame changed from wood to steel. "There. That should be enough for now."

"Hey, let's go back to the thingy!" Mabel asked as she sat up. "Maybe there's some stuff we missed 'cause the Sheriff interrupted us."

"Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't come back to try and arrest us again." He slid off the bed and walked over to Winter. "I'm kinda with Mabel, though. I wanna get this over with as fast as possible."

She nodded in agreement. "So do I. You can come with me to the graveyard tonight to speak with Wilhelm."

Mabel hid her eyes and groaned. "I shoulda kept my mouth shut." Something in Winter's statement was off, however. "Wait... just you? What about Summer?" she asked, dropping her hands.

Winter rolled her eyes about in search of a suitable lie. "She's going to stay here in case anyone attempts to break in. I'd rather not walk into an ambush when we return."

"Ha! Man." Dipper ran a hand through his hair, eyes full of anxiety. "I didn't expect to spend my Sunday running from the federal government. Sheesh."

"Mm." Winter turned on her heel and moved toward the door. "At any rate, my plan is to leave after sunset."

The Pines followed her out. "Then we'd better eat something!" Mabel chirped happily.

"You  _always_  say that. If you weren't so hyper you'd be huge," Dipper muttered. He assumed she hadn't heard it – but he was wrong. He shrank back under a withering glare. "Uh..."

Winter ignored the growl, lunge, and squeal of terror that happened behind her and pressed on to the living room, where Summer lounged on the couch. She tossed a spherical object idly in her hand while watching TV. "All done?" she asked, looking around. The cardinal and its cage were missing.

"More or less," she confirmed, not bothering to avert her eyes. "What are Dipper and Mabel doing in the hallway?"

Winter sat with her, eying the screen. "Sibling disagreement. They want dinner before we start tonight."

"All right. I'll 'cook' something in a bit." Her ruby eyes were pensive.

"What?"

Summer let the sphere drop into her lap. "I'm not sure I like splitting up," she admitted, hugging herself lightly. "We always go together."

"I know, but we'll cover more ground this way. The sooner we're done, the better."

Her gaze went to the Pines, scuffling in the hall with equal parts facetiousness and anger. "Do you think it'll ever end for  _them_?"

"That's..." Winter hunched over in thought. "That's a good point. We might have to inflict just enough damage to get them to back off on a permanent basis."

"How much damage would that be?" Summer asked, finally turning away from the fight.

Winter had no answer. Instead, she rose and walked over to end the argument. "Excuse me, but..."

Mabel had Dipper on his knees and by his mousy locks. "He called me fat!"

"I'm sorry! Have mercy!" he begged, hands flailing about. "Agh! Let go of my hair!"

She separated them with her power and frowned. "He also apologized. Come on, get up."

"Fffffffffffffffffffffine." Mabel stalked off toward the couch. "Hey! Where's the bird guy?"

"I turned him into something easier to deal with," Summer replied, pointing to the sphere as she tossed it again. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Pizza!" Dipper blurted out.

"Tacos!" Mabel countered. They stared at each other for a few seconds; Winter got between them to head off another fight.

"We can have both," she advised, rubbing her eyes. "Now play nice. There are enough enemies to deal with without you two at each other's throats."

* * *

"Ooo! Could you turn the TV into a toaster?"

Winter – on one end of the couch with her sister – wouldn't even look at Mabel, who was seated on the other end with Dipper. Her eyes were dull with resignation; the girl had been interrogating them since after dinner and that was nearly three hours ago. "Yes," she sighed.

Mabel's smile was absolutely massive by now. "No no wait, could you turn the TV into a toaster that spits out money?"

"Probably..."

"Could you turn the money into dragons?!"

"Mabel!" Dipper snapped, slapping the journal shut. "Stop harassing them about their abilities! Geez! No wonder they were so afraid to tell anyone!"

"Exactly," Winter sighed with relief. "We're not wishing wells."

"I'd really like a toaster that spits money dragons though," Summer admitted while rubbing her chin. "It sounds fun."

"Mm." Her eyes went to the window. "I think it's dark enough to head out."

"Oh boy." After straightening his hat, Dipper rose and moved a little to stretch his legs. "So, are we driving or flying?"

His tone was jovial – at least somewhat – but Winter's answer was quite serious. "Flying. I don't want people to see the car and get curious again."

Mabel rubbed her hands together gleefully. "This is gonna be the best thing ever." Of course, what would come after the flight made her face soften with distaste. "And then it's gonna be the worst thing ever. Blargh."

Winter gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder. "We'll make it quick." She nodded to her sister, then toward the hall. "Excuse us for a second."

"What is it?" Summer asked lowly after they'd walked away, glancing over her shoulder as the Pines started their own little conversation.

"There's a chance someone might be waiting for you when you get to the shack. I know we didn't see anything on the news, but pressure might have kept it out of the media. Be ready."

"Right," she nodded firmly. "I hope there isn't. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Of course. But don't let them stop you, either."

"Oh, no one's going to stop me." They shared a steely look. "Anything else?"

Winter's brow furrowed. "If you're going to fly, no wings. They'll glow, and the last thing we need is that kind of attention."

"Okay." They returned to the Pines, bearing smiles of varied intensity. "All right! Well, have fun. I'll make sure everything is in order here."

"Fun? What fun? There's no fun. This is the anti-fun. It's... nuf," Mabel complained weakly. "But I guess it's time to get it over with."

Dipper nodded with a sigh. "Yep. Let's just do this. Can we go check on Wendy and Soos first, though? Not being able to call makes me kinda anxious."

"Of course," Winter replied. "Sister... see you later."

Summer waved as they slipped out the front door, then observed through the window as they went around the back. "All right. I'll give them a moment." After turning off the TV and darting through the house on one final sweep just in case, she too went outside and made her way to the backyard. The rear of the property was bordered by thick forest, almost indistinguishable from the night sky save for the lack of stars. She searched the air for her sister and the kids, but they were already out of sight. With a deep breath, she detached from the earth and ascended, higher and higher, until Gravity Falls was a loose collection of dim yellow lights below.

At this height, the trip to the Mystery Shack was a matter of pointing herself at the hum and accelerating for a few seconds. She overshot the noise by a bit, but found herself more or less right over the old house. Without a moon to cast light, seeing if anyone was around was difficult; instead she dropped into the woods nearby and approached on foot to be safe. The main entrance soon came into view through the trees. A few lights were on inside, and the old red sedan sat in the free parking area. Nothing appeared to be amiss – but she kept on guard and crouch-walked into the clearing. Her eyes darted around at every movement. She only relaxed after making it to the gift shop door, only to find it was locked.

Her first inclination was to snap it out of the way and then restore it once she'd entered. However, the concept of being watched by some formless group made her uneasy about shows of power – and being separated from Winter under such circumstances didn't help. Therefore, she pressed her palm against the keyhole and used the strange black material to gunk up and defeat the mechanism. Upon walking into the shop, she found the door to the living room open and poked her head around the frame.

"Hey," Stan greeted, sitting in the recliner and illuminated by the light of the old TV. He was still clad in his usual suit, but had his tie loosened and blazer unbuttoned. "Where's your sister?"

"One of us is going to stay with the kids at all times to make sure they're safe," she replied, walking over to him.

"Heh, good idea. I, uh..." He paused to rub the back of his neck. "I really, really appreciate it."

She gave him a pleasant nod. "Don't worry. They're in good hands."

He rose from the chair and walked off, coming to rest in the entryway with his back to her. "I'm just worried someone might try to murder you over this when it ain't your fault. It's mine. And if someone hurts them I swear..."

"They won't. I promise. We promise."

There was a quizzical glimmer in his eye as he looked back at her. "How can you guarantee that, kid?"

"I wouldn't if I couldn't back it up," she replied quietly, almost staring him down.

"All righty. You got secrets too," he said after a brief silence. "Par for the course in this town. Follow me." He moved into the gift shop and over to the old vending machine, placing himself between her and it. She could hear him tap on the keypad, but made no effort to peek. The machine slid away from the wall slightly. "All right. What you're about to see doesn't officially exist. Everyone related to it is dead as a doornail or got bought off by the U.S. government."

"I assume you fall into the latter category?" Summer asked, watching as he pulled the machine open like a door, where it revealed a hidden corridor. "Otherwise, you look pretty good for a corpse."

Stan snorted at her quip. "Heh. Kinda." He motioned her into the passageway. "You first. I gotta close this back."

"What are you going to show me, exactly?" she asked, head tilted at the dilapidated nature of the stairwell. An elevator ahead caught her attention – as did the slightly increased clarity of the persistent hum.

"Oh, you'll see." Stan entered another code on the keypad beside the doors, then pressed a button. They slid open. "Kind of a tight fit in here, be careful."

Summer had to contort her way past him to get in. "I see what you mean." She looked up as the descent began. With each passing second the hum became louder and clearer, though it didn't reach the shrieking power of the pit's voice, even after the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. As Stan moved aside, she found herself looking at a narrow chamber full of technical equipment. "What is...?"

"This is the station the United States Army used to use monitor all the weirdness in Gravity Falls," he explained, waving a hand at a couple of screens as he walked past. "They left after the..." A pained look swept across his eyes, but Summer was too distracted to notice. "Forget it. In exchange for keepin' it quiet, the government helps me, you know, financially. And also they may or may not have helped me legally. I can't confirm or deny being wanted in a non-zero number of South American nations."

"How did you end up with it?"

"It, uh, it passed to me from my brother." They had arrived at a desk with a large control panel. Through a plate glass window sat a huge metal triangle with a circular hole in the center. Bright bluish-white light poured from the opening. Two pairs of metal circles were embedded in the stone ceiling and floor before it. All the edges were dotted with aquamarine-colored lights, and a set of strange symbols edging the circle flashed with colors at random intervals. "Here it is. Gravity Falls' biggest, most ridiculous secret."

She barely heard him; the hum was at its loudest now, though not unpleasantly so. Finally there was a source to pin to the noise. Almost unconsciously, she went through the nearby door and drifted over to the device, gobsmacked by the undetectable sound it made. "I hear you," she said to it, standing next to a large lever on the floor.

"Hear, uh, hear what?" Stan blinked, glancing sideways a few times. "It's in scan mode. It would be makin' a lot of noise if it were fully on, but it ain't."

"It's humming!"

"No it's..." Something in her demeanor made him feel uneasy. "Anyway, this is the portal they built back in the forties."

Summer could not tear her eyes away from the hole in the triangle. "What happens if you turn it off?"

"Huh? I feel like we're havin' two different conversations here." However, he obliged, pulling the lever back with no small amount of effort. "There. It's off."

She already knew that. Besides the lights going dim and the hole going dark, the hum had suddenly disappeared. "Now it's quiet."

Frustrated, he crossed his arms and peered at her. "No, it was already qu—hold on. Is there something I need to know?"

Her gaze landed on him at last. "Turn it on. All the way on," she said with a smile.

He denied her, hands waving. "Whoa-ho-ho-ho no. That would attract some real bad attention, lady. You know how hard it is to get the US intelligence community off your back? It's not like you can just send 'em a fruit basket with a card."

"US intelligence community?" Summer's expression darkened. "Wait... is this  _the_  portal?"

"Yeah. Why? There's more than one? 'Cause—uh, 'cause if there is, there ain't an expired-enough apple cider on this planet to drown my sorrows."

Face screwed up in thought, she looked back up at the device. "So then... this is where the magic came from?"

Now Stan's amazement matched hers. "You know about the magic?!" he exclaimed, walking over to her. "How?"

She regarded him with an awkward frown. "Um... there are a few things about Winter and I that I think you should hear. Let's trade some secrets, hmm?"

* * *

Mabel and Dipper needed nearly two minutes to shake off the tingles that came with Winter's telekinetic grip after they'd arrived in the graveyard, but it wasn't just their problem. Wendy and Soos were also doing the odd dance.

"Why did you come with us?" the boy sighed, brushing at his arms to chase off the itch. "You guys were fine! They didn't even know you knew."

"Dude, we ride together," Soos replied, quoting Mabel's words at their meeting. "Even if it means facing off against the... hoo. I might—I might not have fully thought this through, dudes."

"Yeah, well, I guess I just don't care anymore," Wendy added, panting a bit from the ride. "Maybe I wanna find out if I've got powers too, you know? Man, that'd make my life so much easier."

"It's not as glamorous as you think," the blue-eyed woman advised, waving for them to follow to the abandoned corner. For a moment she tried to figure out why the atmosphere seemed quieter, but Mabel's agitation stopped her from giving it too much thought. "Come on. Let's go."

"Yaaaaay," Mabel cheered sarcastically as they all fell in and start walking. Even her hand motions were cynical. "Let's talk to literally the worst person ever! Frack."

"I couldn't agree more," Wendy sneered.

This time, there was no chill occupying the space, no whispers to tease anyone's ears. All they found was quiet and uneven grass, waving in the night breeze. "Okay, so where is he?" Dipper asked, tipping the bill of his cap up as he looked around. "Are we in the right spot?"

Winter nodded a few times, also glancing around. "Yes, we are. Maybe he doesn't want to talk to me."

Mabel's head tilted back and forth. "He doesn't. Someone just said he doesn't. If this ain't Soos or Dip messin' with me, I'm about to lose my-"

"What do you want?" a wandering voice demanded, distorting in volume as if the source was weaving between them. The spirit of Wilhelm Seifert swirled into view, bringing the icy fog along. "I told you, I've nothing else to say," he added, eying Winter with distaste. "Take your magic and friends elsewhere."

"Don't you tell us to buzz off!" Mabel exploded, storming to the front of the line and pointing right at his ghostly nose. "How could you?! How could you kill them? They couldn't defend—I just—ugh! You evil man! Evil evil evil evil!" By the end, her words were more like dry, bitter sobs. She turned to Winter, eyes halfway hidden by a sweater sleeve. "I can't do this, yo, I'm sorry. I wanna go home."

"Young lady, I understand how you feel," Wilhelm offered gently. Out of instinct he tried to put a ghostly hand on her shoulder; Dipper didn't like this much and stepped between them with a glare. The spirit withdrew with a nod. "I assure you, there was no joy in what I did, but it had to be done. Humanity was not ready to know! And I... I could not let them live."

"You don't know what would have happened!" Soos yelled, voice as harsh as any of his friends had ever heard. "They might have been total bros! Real life wizards, dude! They coulda helped!"

Wilhelm was unswayed – and looking melancholy. "No. I guarantee you they could not have  _helped_ anyone."

Wendy was nearly as emotional as Mabel, but managed to put up a cool front. "You stole my aunt Diana from me. You said you saved the world? All you did was blow a hole in the heart of Gravity Falls because you were too scared to wait and see!" she said, anger increasing with every word. "Give us a why, man! Give us a legitimate why!"

If she had been expecting indignant rage from the proud German, he completely failed to deliver. Instead, Wilhelm drifted all the way back against the corner of the wrought iron fence and floated in silence. Dipper, sensing Mabel was ready to ignite once again, pulled her into a tight hug. He hoped Winter would use the chance to take command of the conversation.

After a moment, she did. "The United States government sent an assassin to murder my sister and I," she called to the ghost.

He looked up in confusion. "Why? Was I correct? You're really not children of the portal?"

"We already told you that," she replied tersely, a hand on her hip. "We saw a man named Dietrich Seifert in a file about... never mind. Family of yours?"

"My elder brother," he nodded, drifting back their way. "But I can't tell you anything about what he did."

"You mean his role in Project Apollyon?"

Shock overcame his visage. "You  _do_  know! I see, I see, you're just keeping your friends in the dark for their safety. Of course." He returned to them with a light smile. "Although, I suppose they're not in the dark now."

"We weren't before, man," Wendy corrected him with a glare. "You told us about the portal last time."

"Yes, but I did not tell you the Army's role in building it. And perhaps I shouldn't, there are children here."

" _Talk_!" Mabel roared, eyes shining with rage as she broke away from Dipper. "If I'm gonna stand here and be  _around_ you, you incredible fiend, then you're gonna spill the beans so we can go! Now start singing, buttface!"

"Mabel!" her brother said gently, taking her by the hand. "Calm down before somebody hears us!"

"No!" It took Wendy's help to bring her back to the group, though she fought and snarled all the way.

Winter left them and walked right past the spirit, who tracked her movements with uncertainty. "Miss?" he said, eventually pursuing her to the corner. "What are you doing?"

"Giving Mabel room to breathe," she said quietly, leaning on the wrought iron. "Listen, you can't confirm that the portal is still inactive, can you?"

"Admittedly, no. My detection range is limited without a corporeal form." He floated around her in an idle circle – though they noticed he never tried to pass through the iron fence. "However, there were multiple agencies dedicated to keeping our secret, even back when I turned myself in in 1963. If the portal were open again, I believe I'd see the signs."

"Mm. How did you detect us, exactly?"

"Exposure to the portal granted a few of us limited usage of its power. From then on, we always somehow... knew, where the others were." Wilhelm turned his back on her. The wan light he gave off seemed to become even gloomier. "I signed up for Apollyon to assist my brother. I knew the risks. But there were those in Gravity Falls who did not – nor had any chance to refuse."

Winter cocked a brow. "What do you mean?" She walked toward him when an odd sound reached her ears. "What?"

"My son," he wailed quietly, facing her once more. "My son. My brother's son. Many of the researchers' children. The magic did not affect them as it did us. It caused them... so much pain. I had no choice."

She didn't need clarification. The look in his eyes was one she'd seen many times before, gazing back at her in the mirror. "You killed them?"

"Dietrich couldn't bear to euthanize his child. Can you blame him? I don't know what gave me the strength. My sweet, sweet Kaspar... and Albrecht too..."

Enthralled by his confession, Winter didn't notice the arrival of her companions until Mabel let out a painful-sounding sob. "You killed your own kid?!"

Wilhelm dropped to his ghostly knees, desperate to hug her. His waving arms passed through helplessly. "I know you think me evil, but I knew what would happen! The magic affected those children in terrible ways. I had to do it. At least... at least that power gave me the means to end their lives quickly. No one understands a death by magic. The authorities didn't know what to look for."

Dipper rubbed Mabel's back for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts. "Is that... is that why you were able to blame their deaths on the toxic sludge from the factory?"

"Yes, my boy. I had some government assistance on that front for a while, but yes."

Soos raised his hand awkwardly. "If I hear you right, you said the magic did stuff. You didn't experiment on them, did you?"

He rose with a sigh and tried to restore his stately demeanor. "Dietrich refused, but some of our colleagues lacked his scruples."

"Oh, boy. This portal thing just sucked all around, didn't it?" Mabel sniffled, getting to her feet with Dipper's help. "That still doesn't make what you did cool, but..." She couldn't think up a conclusion, but her frosty hatred wasn't so frosty anymore. Her eyes lit up with a thought. "Hey, you said the Army built it, right? So was the portal thingy a machine?"

Wilhelm grabbed his lapels and sighed. "It was. Why?"

"Then it's gotta be super old. If nobody's watchin' it, what if it breaks?"

"Or what if it's leaking?" Winter added, running with her train of thought. "We feel magic everywhere, Wilhelm. If you know where the portal is, tell us. We may be the only ones that can keep it under control."

"Gott im himmel," he exhaled, eyes wide. "I should have known... the War Depart—I mean, the Department of Defense expended such effort to bury our work. I wouldn't put it past those bastard bureaucrats to let it rot and cause an even bigger disaster."

"Could you not swear, please?" Dipper requested with an awkward chuckle.

"My apologies. Very well. I will give you the address of the station; even if it's gone, some evidence may be left behind. Search the lot at 618 Gopher Road. Please... if you can absolve us of our sins, or at least prevent more from occurring, do it. Maybe then I can rest in peace." With a dignified wave he faded away, once again taking the fog.

"All right!" Soos blurted out, clapping his hands. "Super Mystery Brothers and/or Sisters, we got a clue!"

"Man, you were kinda quiet," Wendy noted with a tiny smile.

"I do not handle tension well, my redheaded friend."

"Eh, I don't either, to be honest."

"I don't think  _any_  of us could handle this stuff very well," Dipper said, trying to look as determined as possible. "Forget it. 618 Gopher Road here we—wait, why does that address seem insanely familiar?"

"The Mystery Shack?" Mabel whispered, eyes bulging. "The portal's in... no... No no no no no no if that's where the portal is then—then we've been—did we—does Grunkle Stan know? D-does our family have anything to do with..."

He wanted to calm her so badly, but Dipper's brain was racing just as fast. "N-no way. There's no way he'd know! He's just a con-man! He's just a-" Wendy and Soos' helpless, stunned expressions offered him no comfort. "Say  _something_! Tell us there's nothing wrong!"

Winter turned away from them and stared off toward where the hum had been, mouth slightly open in thought. "Oh," she murmured. "So that's what he wanted to show me."


	17. Square One (Part Two)

And so they found themselves wandering through the dark woods, Wendy up front as a guide. The kids hadn't stopped babbling since they'd left the graveyard. Dipper and Mabel had demanded – begged, really – not to fly to the Mystery Shack, and before long Winter knew why: they were buying time to talk things out.

"Dude, there's no way he'd know," Dipper insisted nervously, speaking more to himself than his sister. "He doesn't believe any of this stuff!"

"Yeah. Yeah. And he's not _so_ heartless that he'd let us live in a house where-" Mabel fell silent and wretched a couple of times. "I keep connecting baby murder with the shack now and I just wanna cry forever."

"Yeah, I feel ya, man," Wendy said over her shoulder. "How long has the place been there? Maybe he built it on a vacant lot without knowing what was up, huh?"

Dipper latched onto her logic for dear life. "Of course! That has to be what happened. Please. Please let it be what happened."

Soos was unnervingly quiet. A frazzled Mabel was getting fed up with his silence. "Hey! Are you alive over there?" she asked harshly. "Come on! Do, you know, Soos things! Make us smile! We need a smile!"

"Sorry, hambone, I'm just a little befuddled right now," he murmured in reply.

"Befuddled. Befuddled? We might be living and working in a magical death factory and the best you've got is _befuddled?!"_

Her brother was at her side in an instant. "Mabel, calm down! I'm sure there's a perfectly logical expla—hold on, I'm trying to apply logic to Gravity Falls. Never mind. There's gotta be a reason, though. Let's just hear what Grunkle Stan has to say."

She emitted a sharp sigh. "It better be good, otherwise we're stealing a car and going home. Home, home. Maybe Winter can fly us there."

That snapped Winter out of her reverie and back into the conversation. "Where is home? I thought you lived here."

"California," Dipper sighed. "Look, we need to know who knows what before we make any rash decisions. Let's just... go."

It wasn't an easy trip, but with Wendy's guidance they crunched through the night until reaching the highway that ran in front of the Mystery Shack. Like Summer before them, they searched the clearing with nervous eyes for anyone they didn't recognize. Nothing suspicious seemed to be afoot, so they darted across the road and charged right at the main entrance. Now Winter was up front – just in case anything attacked.

"Sure is quiet," Mabel noted anxiously, hands wringing. She could barely see a light from the living room as they drew closer. " _Someone's_ here. Let's grab the spare key and go in through the shop."

"I hope the cops or whoever didn't pay Stan a visit while we were gone," Dipper said. He beat everyone up the steps but froze when he found the door unlocked and slightly ajar. "Hey, why is this unlocked...?"

Summer, leaning against the counter, waved a surprised hello when he opened it. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes widened when the rest of the group filed in. "And you... and you, and especially you, sister."

"Wilhelm gave us an address to look at. This one," Winter replied gravely.

"Why are _you_ here, girlfriend?" Mabel demanded with her arms crossed. "Oh. Wait. Did Stan call you for help? Is he okay?! Did anybody-"

"I'm fine, kid." He came through the living room entrance, cleaning his glasses. "So, you and Summer are magicians, huh? Pretty neat." The kids tackled his legs in a hug, making him chuckle. "Yeah, yeah, it's nice to see you too. Don't wrinkle my pants."

Winter let them have their moment. Surprisingly, it was Wendy who turned out to be impatient. "Mister Pines, we've got a question. And don't laugh at us, 'cause it's serious."

"I'm not giving you a pay raise," he quipped. The looks he got in reply, especially from Mabel and Dipper, made the color drain from his cheeks. "Uh... you're makin' me nervous. Do I need to flee the country?"

"We just talked to a ghost, dude," Soos explained. "And he told us to come here."

Stan laughed a little and slid his glasses back on, hellbent on maintaining the facade. "A ghost! Come on, Soos, I know you know better than to believe that hoo-ha."

"Is there, or is there not, a portal somewhere in this house?"

After Dipper dropped the hammer, they all wallowed in awkward silence – except the identical twins, who stood together and waited patiently for their friends or Stan to find the words. The old man clammed up, however. Only the arrival of Waddles, who nearly jumped into Mabel's arms, gave them respite from the tension.

"I missed you too baby," she cooed, petting him on the head. "And if your great uncle doesn't answer Dipper's question, I'm gonna punch him in the shins until he begs for mercy!"

"Uh..." Stan rubbed his arm, remembering the potency of her reassurance that morning. "Okay, okay, fine. You two go home," he said, waving at Wendy and Soos. However, they didn't budge. "I'm the one with the hearing aid, not you. Go on. Go. Two innocent people already got dragged into this. Besides, I'm deathly afraid of your dad, Wendy."

"Nope. I wanna hear this," she denied, eying him as she tapped her boot.

"I'm with them," Soos added, motioning to Dipper and Mabel. "I already said 'we ride together'. I can't go back on a one-liner like that, dude."

"I never thought I'd call you noble, Soos." Stan looked down at the intense faces of his great niece and nephew and swallowed. "Yeah. There's a portal."

"Show us," Dipper said quietly.

"I don't think that's a good-" He blinked at Mabel's growl. "But, but, it's dangerous! Your parents would kill me! I'm not even being sarcastic. Do you realize how hard not being sarcastic is for an old man?"

"Portal! Now!" she yelled, pointing angrily at him.

"You've seen it already?" Winter muttered to her sister.

She nodded subtly. "Yes. It was the thing that was humming to us."

Stan rubbed his eyes and groaned. "All right, all right, but you're leavin' the pig. And we ain't all gonna fit in the elevator at once, so be patient." Reluctantly, he moved to the vending machine and entered the code.

"Ah, man, it's behind there? That's like the worst cliché ever," Dipper sighed. "All right, time to go have our minds blown, I guess." His face dropped. "Again."

He hadn't been joking – getting everyone down to the dingy lab was a small ordeal. Soos went first, as he needed the elevator all to himself. Wendy and a flustered Dipper were next, followed by Stan and Summer. This left Winter and Mabel, sans Waddles, waiting for the car to return. "What was the code again?" the girl asked. "I wasn't paying attention."

"I'll put it in."

Her flat tone made Mabel raise a brow. "What, seriously? You're not freaked out by this? Like, you're just standing over there all cool and collected and stuff? I mean, I get you have powers, but still. You gotta be a _little_ surprised, right?"

She glanced away from the doors and shrugged. "It's hard to surprise me, I suppose."

Mabel slapped her forehead. "Oh, come on! There's a flippin' gateway to who knows what and all you give about it is a shrug? My eyes are about to pop out of my head! Broseph's probably down there passed out. Wendy might be catapultic!"

Winter looked at her fully. "Cata... what?"

It took a few seconds for her to assemble an explanation. "You know, when you don't move around or say much."

"You mean catatonic."

"Gesundheit." They looked back as the doors opened. "I hope the music's nice." She whined after they entered and started the descent. "Aw, what? Where's the cheesy jams?"

The first person they saw upon arriving was Wendy, who was examining a bank of screens. "Hey, guys," she waved. "You know Stan's got a buncha cameras watchin' the outside? I'm a little creeped out now."

"Huh, I thought he was too cheap for security. What's in here worth stealing?" Mabel stood on tiptoes to look at the images, but was continually distracted by the flashing lights off to her right. "I wanna press every single button in this weird little room _so bad_."

"Hah." Wendy doffed her hat with a sigh. "You know, I'm alllllmost to the point where I'm comfortably numb about the whole thing, but I still need a hug." She grinned as Mabel immediately clamped on. "Thanks, shorty."

"It's okay, we're all losing it. Except icy eyes over here!" Mabel glanced up as Winter moved past and toward the portal room. "Hey! I'm badmouthing you. You could at least grunt or something. Or wave dismissively."

She did neither while walking away. The expressions on the faces of those she found around the strange machinery varied from a twisted form of relief for Stan all the way to jaw-on-the-floor shock for Dipper. Soos was blank-faced. Summer was actually smiling. "This it it?"

"Yes," the red-eyed woman nodded. "Is... is Dipper okay?"

"What is it _for_?!" the boy blurted out. "Where did it come from? Who? How is this—I don't—my head hurts." He rubbed at his face and sighed, then reached into his vest. "I need an aspirin."

Mabel announced her arrival with an "Oooo, shiny!" Wendy came in behind her, half a frown on her face. The seven of them stared at the device for a moment. "I'm getting bored."

"I swear, you'd get bored of swimming in a pool full of literal unicorns."

Before she could snap at Dipper, Winter and Summer moved over and stood in front of Stan. "Start talking," Winter said, folding her arms.

"Uh, well." He stepped back, almost bumping into the lever. "It's a portal. The government did some stuff with it, and-" A barrage of pointed stares made him shrink back even further. "Look, I ain't got the whole story either!"

"I'm having a hard time believing you," Dipper frowned.

Mabel bounced for attention. "Hey, hey, hey. Before we get too deep into this, I need to know if anybody died here? If they did, I'm out. All the way out."

Stan's brow furrowed. "What? No." However, some hesitance before his denial made the kids glare hard. "I dunno! I don't know about the construction or anything but I'm pretty sure-"

"She really means the babies," Wendy clarified.

This time he was more confident – and revolted. "Oh—what, ugh, no. Not as far as I know."

Mabel's steely gaze said she wasn't completely buying it. "Are you _sure_?"

"Yes! I wouldn't make you stay in a house where stuff like that hap-" He slumped on his feet and scowled. "Sweet Sally, I am sad now."

Soos gently poked at some of the metal pipes embedded in the cave walls. "I desire two things right now: a why and a what for this whatever it is. And a bag of chips, so three things. Four things—a soda. Pretty warm down here, dude."

Winter nudged her sister and nodded to the rest of the crowd. After a nod in reply, Summer cleared her throat until everyone was looking her way. "We've run out of patience ourselves. Stan, start explaining." Their surprise made her pout. "Sister, you should know I don't like making demands."

Shaking her head, Winter did just that. "Fine, I'll do it. What she said. Please."

He nodded and started to pace around, hands clasped behind his back. "Fine. The short version is this was a device built by the United States Army in 1942 to get an advantage over the Japanese. See, this place has always had weird stuff happenin'. You know Gleeful's factory? You can roll a ball up that hill. Stuff like that. Some people made a livin' off it with little tours and such." He paused to run his finger along the metal edge of the triangle. "The feds had been studyin' it on and off for years, but then they heard rumors of the German Army doin' similar stuff. Before anyone knew it, the War Department moved in with a buncha scientists. It made people whisper at first, but when the Hanford Site opened up a year later they just thought it had something to do with that."

"Huh. Hold on, the _Germans_ had one too?" Dipper looked around, thinking. "Oh man, what if there really is more than one portal?"

Stan turned to look at him. "Easy, kid. They tore Germany apart in '45 lookin' for evidence and never found anything. Either it didn't exist, or the Russians beat us there."

"So you're sayin' the Russians have one?" Wendy asked anxiously.

"No! Stop—stop jumping to conclusions!"

"I don't care about any of this," Winter interrupted, walking over to the old man. "What was it used for?"

"U-uh, well, I don't have the whole story, like I said. I've just got a few things from the journals and some other documentation to go on. After I got the third one from Dipper, I figured out how to activate it. I don't actually know what it does yet, but I'm still lookin'," he explained, tugging ceaselessly at his collar.

"Then we need to find more documentation about Project Apollyon," Summer grumbled off to the side.

Before her twin could tack on anything else, a muffled sound from outside made them look. "Is that an alarm?" They all rushed out and over to a bank of screens. On one was the sheriff's car. He emerged as they watched. "Mm, it's him again."

"Shoot, the fuzz. Kids, get upstairs!" Stan ordered. "We can talk more later!" While Soos was more than happy to usher the young Pines to the elevator, Wendy wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere. "Go on, we'll be up there in a second. You keep those two safe, all right?"

Her face was deeply weary, but that request was enough to perk her up again. "Yeah. You got it, Mister Pines."

"You're lying to us," Summer said cheerfully once the redhead was gone. "Don't deny you're lying to us, because you're lying to us."

Stan tried to feign being insulted, but only came off looking sheepish. "W-why do you say that?"

"Because we've been lied to. We know what to look for." Winter strode toward the elevator, fists clenched. "Come on. Let's get this over with. And when we're done, you're going to tell us _everything_."

"I'm not telling them everything," he replied, finally standing his ground. "The whole truth is way too much for them to know. It's probably too much for anyone to know."

"Don't worry," Summer chirped with a smile. "Just tell _us_. You'd be surprised what we consider normal."

* * *

Wendy and Soos were peering out the window as they came out into the gift shop. She had a hatchet in her hand. "Wendy?" Stan asked, walking over to look with them. "Why do you have an axe?"

"Mister Pines, this is a toothpick – and I'm a lumberjack, remember?" she answered with a wry grin before getting back to the topic at hand. "I don't see Blubs."

Winter and Summer moved to another set of windows to look for him. "Where are the kids?" the former asked.

"Sent them to the living room, just in case," Soos said, scratching his head. "I don't think he packs heat, but if he does he's probably the worst shot on the planet."

"Do we have a plan?"

Summer's question drew a lot of unsure noises from Stan and Soos, but Wendy straightened up and grinned to herself again. "I do." She waved at the twins and the gift shop door a few times. "If you'll distract him, I can, uh, take care of the situation."

Winter cocked a brow. "What does that mean?"

"Heh, just watch. It'll give you a chance to grab the little guys and get out of here."

Stan released a sigh of relief. Winter glared at him, but decided the young Pines' safety was the most important thing and frowned in defeat. "Very well... but we'll be back to talk to you later." She almost smiled at his terrified look.

"All right, let's do this – as long as it doesn't involve anyone getting hurt." Summer nodded at the redhead and headed for the door. Once Winter had emerged behind her, they hopped onto the grass and started searching. "I wonder why he's here. For us? For Dipper and Mabel?"

"I don't think he knows we're here. And if he wants the kids, he's going to be sorely disappointed." A flashlight beam, sweeping around from the corner of the house, caught her eye. "Hold on. Who's there?" she called.

"Aha!" Blubs came bouncing around the corner, but his only visible weapon was the flashlight itself. "Gotcha! You think you can evade capture forever?"

"Um, does that mean we evaded capture by going shopping?" Summer asked, her face twisted in surprise.

He shone the light right into her eyes. "Hey! I'm gonna hold you in contempt! Contempt of... my skills!"

"I am utterly terrified," Winter said, hands on her hips. "If you think you can arrest us, feel free."

As he moved to try, a car engine started behind them. It was his car, in fact, and as they all looked the light bar came on. "Hey, Sheriff!" Wendy yelled, waving out the driver's side window. "When are you gonna learn not to leave your keys in the ignition, man?"

Flustered, he started to run toward her – although running was a generous way to describe his gait. "Oh, not ag—get outta there, young lady! That's police property!" He bellowed angrily as she drove off, chasing her all the way out of the clearing and out of sight. " _Cordurooooooooooooy_!"

Winter blinked a few times at the spectacle. "That was fun. Come on, let's get the kids."

They were already on the porch waiting. "Are we really running from the police?" Mabel asked. "'Cause I've got my fugitive sweater!" She pointed proudly at the black-and-white striped garment. "Can I take Waddles?"

"I'll take care of him, kid." Stan gave her a pat on the head. "Gonna be weird not having you two around."

Soos's eyes lit up. "I can stay with you, Mister Pines. We might get killed in cold blood by a government assassin, but at least we won't be lonely!"

"Your encouragement really needs work, but thanks." Stan gave the young twins one last smile. "Get some sleep. I'm sure we'll get this figured out in a day or two. Maybe."

They gave both men a hug in turn. "Be careful, you guys," Dipper said quietly. "Then again, I guess you can just hide in the secret freakin' lab if anything bad goes down."

* * *

Stan's advice was easier given than acted upon. Endless minutes passed with them staring at the ceiling of their bedroom. Footsteps wandering through the house provided background noise – they knew it was either Summer or Winter patrolling, but the sounds never stopped. Someone was always walking around. It was this vigilance and its implications that gave rise to nerves, and that anxiety stopped them from drifting off.

"Man, are they ever gonna go to bed?" Mabel asked lowly, clinging to a pineapple plushie.

"They're probably sleeping in shifts," Dipper said, clutching a pen in his left hand. "Wow. Are we really in that much danger?"

She tried to guess who was on watch by focusing on the measured sounds. "I dunno, but... if they're that nervous, should we be that nervous?"

"Maybe? I'm not sure. How many times have we almost gotten killed already? If I remember right, it's like all the times."

Mabel's face dropped. "Yeah, but back then we could see the thing trying to murder our faces."

A chill went down his spine. "I can't even explain how right you are. We always knew what the enemy was – I mean, after a certain point. Now they could be anybody anywhere."

"Yeah!" She glanced at the slightly open door. "And we got people risking their lives to keep us safe. This is kinda scary, bro." Mabel squeezed the fuzzy fruit a little tighter.

"And as the icing on the what the heck cake, our great uncle has a secret portal!" Unable to contain himself any longer, he sat up with a long growl. "So much for a boring summer. I don't know if I wanna find out how deep this hole goes, but I guess it's too late."

"Ya scared, Dipper?" she teased, though her worried undertone was easy to pick up.

"Aren't you?" They shared a long, awkward stare in the dim light. "Aren't we _all_?"

She cocked her head. "I dunno, Summer and Winter seem to be more afraid for us than for themselves. Man, Winter didn't even bat an eye about the whole portally-business, either."

"How is that even possible?" Dipper rubbed his chin in thought and got quiet.

Mabel blinked at him. "Hello?" His continued silence made her blow idle raspberries. "Maybe it's 'cause they're full of magic, Dip. Why would anything surprise them?"

There was no stopping this train of thought, however. He crossed his legs and began to click the pen. "Our whole world just got slapped upside the head. Whatever that portal was used for, wherever it leads – it could change the course of human history. I know they've had a hard – and probably really weird – life, but even they have to be a little... perplexed." He paused to let her snort at his big word. "Seriously, though. Even Summer's all business. Why?" And then it occurred to him: "Wait. How much about them do we _really_ know?"

"Huh." Mabel's eyes went to the ceiling. "They're from Iowa and they're wizards aaaaand I dunno. I wonder if Wendy and Soos found out anything on their trip last night."

He shrugged. "Might not hurt to ask, assuming Wendy isn't in jail by now."

She laughed a little, but frowned afterward. "Hey, you don't think _they'd_ hurt us, do you?"

"Huh?" Now he looked at the door. "Nah. If they wanted to, we'd be toast by now. Heck, the whole town would be. Then again, they seem to be willing to fight if they have to. I guess they're holding back so nobody else knows."

"Riiiiight." She deflated with an obnoxious sigh. "Dang, we just got back home and boom, we're gone again. This blows."

"No joke." Dipper fell back down and exhaled deeply. "We're definitely taking these mattresses home with us. I hope you know this."

"Ohhh yeah. It's like I'm being cuddled by a cloud, bro. I need this bed in my life forever."

After their weak chuckles faded they listened to the footsteps again. It was hard to tell where their source was in the house. Dipper rolled onto his side to face Mabel again. "You think our family is hiding anything _else_ from us?"

"Nrgh, I don't wanna think about it," she replied with a wince.

"...yeah. Sorry. I just want some full disclosure to go with my government conspiracy, I guess." He followed up with a few half hearted clicks on his pen. "I read somewhere that dull emotions are a result of trauma happening. Like, a lot of it. I wonder what Summer and Winter have really been through."

"Can... can we think about happier things, please? Like—I don't even know. Ugh, my flow is the harshed-est, Dipper. Being paranoid is not my style!"

"Oh, I'm with you. Totally. Hey, what time is it?"

"Ummm." She hung off the edge of the bed and searched for her watch. Its glow-in-the-dark hands told her it was roughly fifteen after midnight. "12:15. Hey, it's finally tomorrow!"

"Wow. I'm actually glad it's a Monday. I can't believe it. Maybe 'cause Sunday sucked so incredibly much." Stretching, he tried to get comfortable. "Let's _try_ and sleep at least. I have a feeling we're gonna need it."

"Yep. Night, broface."

"Good night."

As things got quiet, Summer moved away from the door and floated silently down the hallway. Her sister had been the one walking around; she followed the sounds until they met in the pitch black living room. "They're rattled."

Winter glanced away from the windows with surprise. "You eavesdropped on them?"

She blushed with shame. "I wanted to hear what they really thought about things."

"Mm. And?"

"They're ready to jump at shadows. And they seem to wonder what happened to us." Summer scowled when her sister wouldn't respond. "Won't we have to tell the truth eventually?"

"Only if we must. Everyone has enough to deal with right now."

"Fine, I guess." She examined her fingernails in the dim light. "Stan wasn't very surprised when I showed him my power. I think he's seen it before."

"I'm not really surprised." Winter moved toward the kitchen. "It doesn't make sense, though. If there are survivors, why can't we feel them? The sparks don't move around much unless we move relative to them. Even the fairies stay in one spot. If they belonged to people, those people would be moving – and we'd notice them whenever we were in town."

"You're right. How odd." She tapped her chin while leaning in the doorway. "I saw two more journals on his desk down there. I should have taken them."

"We don't steal," Winter chided her sarcastically. "Besides, we can ask for them in the morning."

The red-eyed woman fidgeted slightly. "Actually, I think we should split up again. I could take the kids out somewhere. You could talk to him while we do something fun to keep their minds off things."

"I didn't consider that," she admitted, deflating a little. "I'm so glad to have you around. Sometimes my pragmatism gets the better of me."

"Oh, sister. We're learning from each other." She embraced her with a smile. "Besides, sometimes my optimism gets the better of _me._ Isn't this what twins are supposed to be anyway? Two parts of a whole?"

"Perhaps." Winter broke their hug and shuffled back to the counter. "We have to be careful. As long as they don't ask why we hardly sleep, I think it'll be fine."

Summer perked up with a huge smile. "Oh, yes. Eating is no problem. I think it's fun!"

"Mm." A sound from beyond the wall drew her eyes away. "What was that?"

"Go find out. I'll stay here." She stepped aside as Winter darted out of the house, then moved toward the bedroom. Mabel let out a hilarious snore as she peeked around the door. "How cute." For a long while, she stared at the slumbering children. A frown slowly appeared. "It feels _so_ nice to be on the other side of this for once."


	18. Messenger

The source of the noise met her around the left rear corner of the house, in the form of eight people with covered faces and body armor, clad all in black and carrying suppressed weapons of some sort. Winter paid no mind to the type – the second one of them seemed to notice her, she snapped the whole group into marbles and watched them fall to the ground with their guns and equipment.

"More of you already? That was fast," she sighed, picking up one of the firearms to examine it. "You and your guns." This was no pistol, either; it was something closer to an assault rifle with a long magazine. "Military?" Her eyes grew steely – and somber. "Here we go again."

After gathering up their equipment and forging it into more marbles, which she dropped into a flower pot hewn from a rock on the ground, Winter went back inside. Summer was floating by the twins' bedroom door, hands glittering black and ready to strike. "Just the wind, I hope?" Her eyes went to the pot. "I guess not."

"Eight people. Possibly soldiers." She shot a glance at the marbles and frowned. "This is escalating fast."

The red-eyed woman settled on her feet and nodded an agreement. "What do we do?"

"I don't know yet." She looked at the cracked door. "Are they asleep?"

"Yes, finally."

"Let them stay that way." Winter motioned for her sister to follow. "It may be necessary to send a message to these people," she added gravely as they moved toward the living room. "A message they can understand."

No further clarification was necessary. "But we don't do that anymore," Summer countered, her face pallid. "We made a promise."

Weighed down by the vow, Winter came to a stop and stared at the floor. "I know." A series of noises – including a squeak of pain – from behind made them whirl. They found Mabel, on her knees and clutching her face after apparently falling flat on it. "What are you doing?"

A few pained noises escaped before the words managed to. "Nothing! Just... uh." She paused to wince. "I think your floor broke some part of my face. Ow."

"Were you spying on us?" Summer asked, using her power to help Mabel to her feet.

"Pfff, what? Come on! I was-" Her voice wilted under their curious, but stern stares. "...little bit. I had to pee but then I lost control of my nosy."

"Go back to bed, please," Winter said, pointing down the hall. She let her arm drop when Mabel refused to budge. "I did say please."

"Why you got a flower pot?" she countered, arms crossed in her best impression of the blue-eyed woman. "Unless you're doing some midnight gardening, which by the way I'm not gonna believe."

"Mm." Winter clammed up until a look from her sister broke the ice. "I ambushed more trying to move in on us a few minutes ago. Soldiers, it seems."

"Wow." Mabel leaned on the wall, heart quickening. "Do we—I mean, should we be doing something? 'Cause..."

More sounds, this time from the far end of the corridor. Dipper's unsteady footsteps were the source. He stumbled forth, rubbing his eyes and groaning. "Mabel, what the heck? Why are you up? Did something happen? I'm freaking out a little over here." He smiled at her hug of apology. "It's fine. Seriously, what's up?" he asked again, looking toward the older twins.

"More people with guns," Summer replied with a smile, doing her best to make it seem less serious with a chipper tone. "Sister stopped them outside."

He acknowledged that with a surprised "Welp," and glanced around. "No sleep for us, I guess."

Winter disagreed with him, though her words ended up more resigned than assuring. "It's fine. Go back to bed." No surprise that neither of the Pines moved an inch. "I don't even know why I tried that."

"Yeah, I wouldn't call 'being hunted down by the government' fine," he said, scratching at his messy hair. "Even if it doesn't bother you guys, it kinda bothers me."

"And me!" Mabel added happily. After a second she frowned to herself, realizing how painful her statement actually was. "This blows. Bro, we gotta do something."

Dipper nodded. "I'm all for fighting back, but how? We don't have powers." Suddenly his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "But we do have a weapon!" he exclaimed, walking quickly away from them down the hall. Before anyone could ask for clarification he was gone, but returned again almost as fast. Journal three was in his grasp.

His sister met him with hands on hips and a mostly-serious scold. "Dang it, man! How many times I gotta tell you to stop leanin' on that thing so hard?"

"If they're going to use guns, I'm going to use this," he countered simply, clutching it like a precious treasure. "Unless you two want to give us some heat?"

Mabel unleashed a shrill squeal of delight at the notion, causing the older twins to raise eyebrows. "I don't think that's such a good idea," Summer said, tacking on a nervous chuckle. "But maybe Dipper has a point. Why not use the power of Gravity Falls to help us?"

"Mm." Winter cast her eyes at the floor in thought. "I suppose it couldn't hurt." She looked down at the journal, then its bearer. "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

A self-satisfied smirk was on Wendy's face as she carefully picked her way through the woods. She'd lost track of time toying with the Sheriff and driving around – confident it'd take him at least until morning to find the car, her next goal was to get back and bum a ride off Stan or Soos to go home. "Man," she said with another smile, "I wish I could see the look on his face. Poor guy must be ready to pass out."

The image faded against a backdrop of concentration. With only a pen light to see, Wendy had to be more careful than usual poking around in the forest. Progress was slow. In a few minutes the redhead had to admit it; she'd gotten herself lost. "Oh, man, what a-" The beam had come to rest on a yellow arrow with writing which cut her complaint short. "This way to the Mystery Shack. Neat." Whistling a little tune, she strolled in the direction it pointed. Something dragged at her mood, however; with each step it became heavier. Before long it had enough mass to form a question: what had she gotten herself into?

An answer would have to wait. Ahead were lights that should not have been, casting a pall through the trees. Soon it became obvious these were cars in the clearing. Nervous, Wendy put away her light and sneaked closer. Two black SUVs took shape as she got to the treeline – the kind that screamed law enforcement. Her heart shot into her throat. "Oh, crap." She scanned the area and noticed two people standing guard on the grass near the side porch, each with a terrible-looking gun. Her first instinct was to rush in and see what was going on. Then she thought of her father and brothers. As far as she knew, nobody had any clue of her involvement. They would still be safe.  _She_  would still be safe. The concept of throwing all of that away gave her immense pause.

Then she thought of something else, three words she'd heard twice that made the decision even harder. "We ride together," she mumbled with a scowl. There was no sign of Soos or Stan. Even after loitering in cover for a few moments, watching, she found it hard to tell exactly what was going on. A noise from her cellphone made her jump; time stopped as she checked to see if anyone had heard it. The sentries hadn't moved.

Equal parts annoyed and relieved, she checked it and found a text from Robbie. "What the... 'bby why u no luv me'," she read lowly. "I swear to god, boy, if you don't—whatever. Man, I wish I knew their phone number. I sure could use a hand." Fuming, she tried to figure out what to do – and then her brain delivered a helpful memory. She  _did_  know the twins' number, even if she didn't. Dipper had used her phone to call them. "Oh yeah." With shaking fingers she pored over her call history for a strange number, finding one and calling seconds later. "Please let this be right," she pleaded quietly through the rings.

"Hello?"

Relief washed over her – it was one of the twins, but she couldn't figure out which. Not that it mattered; help would soon be on the way. "Hey, uh, could one of you-" Wendy abruptly fell silent. Something hard was poking at the back of her skull, only just now becoming apparent through her thick red locks. "Uh..."

"I  _thought_  I heard a phone go off. Who are you talking to?" a woman asked – a woman pointing a suppressed UMP at Wendy's head. Her face hidden by a black balaclava, she was fully outfitted for combat. "And what are you doing here?"

Her racing heart now pumped ice, but Wendy maintained enough of her wits to utter one more sentence. "Hey, come back. You left something  _really_  important," she said quickly, then closed her phone. Now she groped for an excuse that wouldn't introduce a bullet to her skull. "Sorry, just calling a friend. I uh, I work here. We left some stuff."

"Is that so?" Her assailant's tone was a little softer now. "Hmm. Keep your hands where I can see them and walk toward the building." Wendy complied, moving along with arms raised. The sentries by the porch walked over when they saw her emerge from the woods and also aimed their weapons. "Hold it, guys. Just a teenager. Says she's an employee."

"So, uh, what's going on here?" the redhead asked with a nervous smile.

"Not your problem," one sentry said. Like the woman they had balaclavas hiding their faces, but both were obviously men. "You got some ID?"

"Just my learner's permit... does that count?"

"Yeah. Show me." He took the card and shone a light on it. "Hey, I need a background check on a Wendy Chloe Corduroy," he said, head tilted as he used his headset. "Address is 409 Mongoose Road, Gravity Falls, Oregon, 97701. Birthday is 9/3/1999."

"You can drop your arms now," the woman advised. "Just call me Jane, all right?"

"Sure." Wendy focused on trying to calm down. From here, she could see people moving past the windows inside with flashlights. "Am I in trouble?"

"Nah, but maybe you can give us a hand. How well do you know Stanford Pines?"

"Kinda well, I guess?" she replied, rubbing her forearms and glancing around while she tried to figure out how much to spill. "I mean, he is my boss. I'm friends with his great niece and nephew." She jumped when the sentry handed back her permit.

"She's clean," he said. "Sorry about the scare, miss."

"All right, then." Jane bade the redhead to follow her inside while the guards went back to their positions. "You wouldn't know of any secrets in this old house, would you? Trap doors, explosives, entrances behind walls. That sort of stuff?"

"What the heck, man?" Wendy said, pouring on the disbelief. Two more with lights walked by as they entered the living room. "In this place?"

Jane chuckled lightly. "I figured. Worth a shot. Look, we're gonna keep you here for a bit, so just stay out of the way. Once we're done you can go home."

She smiled anxiously, trying to keep the panic squashed down. "Cool. Can I go get a soda?"

"Sure, but you're giving me your cellphone first." Jane squinted faintly at Wendy's squirming reluctance, but she finally gave up the device and shuffled out of the room. "Huh." She set her weapon aside and checked the number before activating her headset. "Hey, can you give this phone number to our PRISM liaison?" she asked. "It's 541-555-2293." Her eyes went to the entryway as she waited for information. When she got it, her eyes widened. "Are you sure?" Another confirmation caused her to toss the phone down, grab her UMP and walk into the kitchen. Wendy was seated at the table, trembling hands clasped in her lap. "You know Summer and Winter Weiss?"

The redhead slumped forward a bit. "There goes the act, I guess." She glanced up to see the gun pointed her way. "Really, man? You're gonna shoot me?"

Jane raised the muzzle further, aiming at Wendy's head. "Who were you talking to?" Even at gunpoint, she refused to speak again. "Damn it!" She went back to the headset. "Kepler, I need to know if you've found the sisters yet." She blinked at the silence – not static, just dead quiet – that was the reply. "Kepler? Hello?" With a growl, her attention went back to Wendy. "You better start talking."

"I ain't a sellout," she countered, her jade eyes hard as iron. "Shoot me if you want. If you do, you're gonna regret it. I freakin'  _guarantee_  you."

Before Jane could reply, the lights went out. "What... you sit there!" she yelled, sweeping the UMP around as she flipped on her shoulder-mounted light. "On me, kitchen and side entryway! Now!" Like the call to Kepler before, though, she only got silence from her radio. "...oh my god. This cannot be happening." Several tense moments passed. Not knowing what else to do, she took a crouched position in the doorway, looking out for threats.

"I am running out of patience with you people."

"What the hell?!" As she turned to face the new voice, her gun flew from her hands and out the open window. She found herself being lifted by an invisible force a second later. "What in god's name is going on?!" she screamed, flailing in the air. Her body, equipment, clothing and all, compressed into a marble and dropped noisily to the floor.

Wendy had been staring at the silhouette as soon as her sight adjusted, but didn't bother to get out of the chair or move. She watched it leave, floating an inch above the floor. A minute or so later the lights were back on. "Hey," she said with a wave as the shadow – who turned out to be Winter – returned. "Thanks." Pent-up fear began to seep out. "They know that I know. Guess I'm about as well off as you guys are now."

"Someone was going to figure it out sooner or later." Winter magically dropped the former operator in her t-shirt pocket. "Where are Stan and Soos?"

"No idea. Those guys didn't know either." Her eyes lit up as she stood. "Bet you they're in the lab." As the two women went to look, Wendy's eyes lingered on the scattered marbles on the floors of the rooms they went through, including several in the gift shop. A chill went up her spine. "Man, the way you can just fold people up into nothin' is kinda freaking me out."

"Better folded up than dead," Winter replied solemnly, examining the vending machine. "I don't know the code." She beat her fist lightly against it a few times, wondering whether or not to change it so they could enter.

However, no magic or code was necessary, as the machine emitted a heavy thunk and swung open after she stopped knocking. Stan was behind it. "Wait, are they gone?" he asked, looking around. "Also, when did you two get here?"

"Half an hour ago, I guess?" Wendy said with a weak shrug. "I called for help, that's why Winter's here." She hugged herself while taking a few steps away from the secret entrance. "So, uh, what am I supposed to do now? Do I go back home? Would these jerks chase me there?"

Stan rubbed at his eyes for a while. "I wouldn't doubt it. Anything they could use to get to me, they will." A worried Soos arrived just as he finished speaking. "There you are. Coast is clear."

"Hey hey, that's great. We all good up here? Huh? Huh?" To sway things in a positive direction, he gave everyone two thumbs up. "Yeah?" Their expressions made his heart sink. "No, huh. Aw, dudes, nah. Turn those frowns and/or expressionless faces upside down!"

Wendy scoffed, turning and walking away. "We'll manage, man. Get outta here before you end up like me."

"She's got a point, Soos," Stan admitted with a sigh. "Nobody knows you were here. Maybe you should go home."

Soos needed a minute to screw up enough courage. "No way, Mister Pines. I said I'd stay here and I am. Even if we have to hang out in the weird science place."

"All right, but I am not responsible for anything that happens to you from here on out. You get hurt, don't come cryin' to me for workers' comp," he replied, grinning as he cleaned his glasses. Humor left him when he looked at Wendy, who stood by the door with her back to them. "Hey, kid, you okay over there?"

Her answer was lifeless and weary. "Not really. I can't go home. Otherwise I'll get my family killed. Least that's what it  _feels_  like. And no offense, but that underground thing creeps me the heck out."

"Come with me, then." They all looked at Winter, who regarded them blankly. "We have room. If you're worried about dragging your family into it, stay the night at our house. In the morning we can try to figure out something else."

"I... all right, sure. I can get grounded once it's over." She produced a wispy laugh while moving toward the living room. "Let me find my phone and we can go."

"...this is starting to get bad for people I never wanted it to get bad for," Stan grumbled to himself. "We're gonna drop by in the morning, all right? I think we need to have a chat. All of us. Right now I'm too tired to see straight."

"I didn't know you  _could_  see straight," Soos chimed in with a smile.

"Don't get smart with me. Your life is in my hands for the next few hours."

Soos and Winter cracked a tiny smile at his quip. The redhead came back, stuffing her phone into a pocket. "All right, I guess. See you guys tomorrow? I mean, today. I... whatever." She blinked a few times when Stan came over and gave her a hug. "Whoa. You okay, man? You're showin' some concern. Not like you."

He snickered and pulled away. "I know. We gotta end this stuff quick before my heart thaws out."

The blue-eyed woman took a few minutes to gather up all the human marbles to take home with her. Goodbyes were said, and in a flash Winter and Wendy were off through the night sky.

* * *

When they landed, the former entered first just in case something had gone awry. Fortunately, all was as she left it: Dipper and Mabel asleep in an adorable pile on one end of the living room sofa, while Summer read the journal on the other. "Oh, welcome back, sister," she greeted, not yet looking up. "Did everything go-" Wendy's presence caused a confused stare. "I guess not."

"She's going to stay with us for now." Winter nodded over at her. "One of us will set up a room for you in a moment."

Wendy nodded back, almost idly, while pawing at the back of her head. "Thanks. Wish we knew what they were planning."

"I..." 'Agree' was supposed to be next, but something made her stop. A hand went to her chest and came to rest on the marble still in her pocket. "Perhaps we might find out. Summer, would you see to Wendy?" She floated quickly down the hall and took a right, soon ending up in one of the unused bedrooms. Once the door was shut, she tossed the marble to the floor and let it bounce a few times before returning Jane to her original state. Her body dropped like a stone, leaving her woozy – and that gave Winter enough time to take her headset, sidearm, and balaclava. To keep the intimidation factor high, she left the lights off.

"Where am I?" the operator finally asked, holding her head.

"Does it matter?"

"You!" Jane instinctively reached for her pistol and headset, freezing when she felt neither. "...crap." She scrambled away from Winter's shadow into the nearest corner. "What is this? An interrogation? I won't talk. I'm more afraid of my boss than you, lady."

Winter cracked her neck a few times. "I can fix that. I'd rather have a conversation first."

"To hell with you! What did you do with my team? With Kepler? With Charlie?"

"Mm." Hands behind her back, she began to pace around the room. Her eyes never left Jane. "Let's just say they will not find the bodies. I'm not sure you understand who you're dealing with."

"How did you—okay, Charlie's kind of a dope, but Kep..." Scrambling, she got to her feet and stared Winter down. "How?"

"What does your government want with me?"

Stung by the steel in her tone, Jane stepped back and rested against the wall. "What do you think? If the project became public knowledge, society would collapse. There are things nobody should know."

Winter stopped walking and crossed her arms. "So the plan is to kill us all, then?"

A cruel grin appeared on Jane's face. "You got it. You fools are so dead. Doesn't matter that you've gotten away today. You'll screw up eventually. Hell, we'll just send Delta Force or something, erase you guys real good." The bravado didn't last long when Winter picked up the pistol at her feet. "Wait. No. No."

She paid no mind, instead examining the gun and its suppressor. "I am so dead?" Now the pistol was pointed at the left side of her head. Stone-faced, she pulled the trigger. Unlike the first time, the awful thing inside of her was ready for the impact. There was blood but her skull remained whole, only moving a bit with the shot. With a nonchalant toss, she rid herself of the gun and approached Jane, who was now cowering in terror on the floor. "I don't think I am. Now listen closely. I only  _look_  human, and I would hate to be harassed by your government until I feel the need to call my home world and reduce your planet to dust."

"What in god's name are... are you guys extraterrestrials? No wonder your backgrounds were so empty."

"I suppose we are." Winter rubbed gently at the wound while waiting on it to mend. "This is my first and only offer to you and whoever you work for. Leave us alone – and by us, I mean Gravity Falls. If you do not, there will be consequences. Will you deliver my message?"

"What if I say no?" Jane's attempt to sound defiant failed before the first word fully escaped her lips; by now her teeth were chattering.

"Take a guess."

"Uh, I..." This wasn't a subject she wanted to think about too hard. Instead she swallowed her fear and stood again. "Okay, fine. Give me my equipment and I'll tell them."

Winter shook her head. "No. I want you gone first." A quick snap later, Jane was a marble again. After making sure the bleeding had stopped, she walked out and bumped into Summer, who had been listening through the door to their conversation. "Are they still asleep?"

"Wendy isn't. I had to beg her not to come check on you. Mabel and Dipper are still out cold," she confirmed, frowning at the state of Winter's head. "I certainly wish you'd stop shooting yourself."

She shrugged while looking down the hallway. "Better me than her. I'm taking our guest out of town. I'll make a door out the back. Seal it up after I leave."

Summer smiled oddly, shifting on the balls of her bare feet. "Okay. How did it go?"

"I've got an offer for our attackers. Hopefully they'll listen. That's what the gunshot was for, to prove my point. Perhaps it'll be enough to get everyone off of our backs for the moment." Her head cocked at the red-eyed woman's strange behavior. "What?"

"Nothing!" she chirped, though her false grin crumbled under Winter's stoic gaze. "Well. That day we went to the hospital... the kids left something out of their stories. Something I read in the journal." Summer's face became grave. "There's a being here called Bill Cipher. It can invade people's minds. Why didn't they mention it to us?"

Winter's blank face gained a surprised tint. "That is a very good question. I'll look at it when I get back. Perhaps we can use it to our advantage."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," her sister replied warily. "Not based off what I've been reading."


	19. Children of the Gate

Something jarred Wendy awake, but her addled brain and sore body – why did she sleep on the stupid couch? – left her unable to figure out what. The dawn's genesis was already filling the living room with dim golden light. As she righted herself and tried to collect her thoughts, she jumped with surprise upon seeing Winter at the other end, slumped back and apparently asleep. It was fine, she told herself, trying to slow her breath. She'd made it. One of the super-twins had made it. The house looked intact. Nothing was wrong.

But what about her family? Despite all the precautions there was no way to be sure; if the United States could kill a guy across the ocean by remote control, it could certainly find a few lumberjacks in Oregon. Only one thing could give her solace, so she carefully got to her feet and went looking for her phone. Her new phone. Summer had spent an hour cloning their huge smartphones for the redhead, the kids, and Soos and Stan before finally turning in last night. It seemed a bit unwieldy for someone used to a little flip phone, but the case was colored in red flannel just like she asked. Eventually, she found it charging in the spotless kitchen. Next to it was a strange little cable, one end of which was connected to a jack in the wall, and a note.

 _If anyone wants to call someone, attach a phone to this first!_ The writing was smooth and cheery; Wendy just knew it was Summer's. She did as it asked and dialed her house.

"Hello? Who is this?"

The gruff voice of her father had never sounded so sweet. Wendy exhaled – one weight was off her shoulders. "Hey, dad. How's things?"

"Fine, fi-" A loud sound cut him off. The redhead giggled – that was him bumping his head on the ceiling again. "Dang it!"

"Careful, man. What'd I tell you about crouch-walkin'?" Breathing was much easier now. "Sorry about the short notice last night. This was one sleepover I couldn't miss. You guys gonna be all right out there without me?"

"Sure, if your brothers ever wake up. You coming back tonight?"

"I hope—yeah. Tonight. I gotta go, I don't wanna wake Tambry up. Love you guys. Be careful."

"Love you too."

She hung up, hoping against hope that whatever was in these devices stopped prying ears. Like a nervous ghost, she crept back into the living room and sat down. Winter was still asleep. With most of her anxiety gone, the redhead drifted off again. An instant later, or so it seemed, something else woke her up. This time it had a clear source – Dipper, sitting between them and hugging the journal. He let out a tremendous yawn. "Hey, man."

"Huh?" He looked over, bleary-eyed. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

"I was kinda up already." She rubbed her face, sighed, and looked over at the other end of the sofa. "Man, Winter sleeps like a brick."

"Heh, yeah. I'm jealous." Gloom settled into his eyes. "I guess everyone survived the night?"

Wendy nodded and thumbed over her shoulder. "I called home to check. There's a bunch of those big phones in the kitchen if you wanna do the same."

"Yeah, yeah, give me a minute to remember how to speak English." Just as he got up, however, a familiar noise reached his ears. "Wait... is that Stan's car?" he asked, moving to look out the window. Sure enough, the ancient sedan was coming to a halt beside the twins' BMW. "Hey, they made it too. Phew."

Stan poked his head in after Dipper opened the front door. "Hey, kid. Everyone all right?"

He flashed a thumbs up while trying to smile. "Seems so." Soos came in next. "What's up? Where'd you guys stay?"

"In the lab," he replied, giving the boy a low-five. "It's hard to sleep when you're worried about aliens coming out of a glowing hole in the next room, you know?"

"I bet." Dipper noted the other two journals in Stan's arms. "Hey, more reading material."

"Yeah. Figured if the feds were gonna play dirty, so would I." He set them on the coffee table and frowned at journal three on the sofa. "Something tells me you had the same idea."

"Sure did. I was thinking of using the crystals. Maybe one of those amulets Gideon had, if there's another."

"Speaking of journals..." Winter's arrival to the conversation caused everyone but Soos to jump. She smiled a bit at their surprise. "Sorry." After a minor stretch, she got right to business. "Mm. Dipper, I want to talk to you and Mabel."

The boy looked up at her, confused. "Huh? About what?"

"About Bill Cipher."

Wendy seemed a bit confused, but Dipper turned white as a sheet. Soos couldn't figure out why and paid it no attention. "Oh yeah. That was crazy! Right?" He blinked when the boy wouldn't answer. "Or were we just hallucinating? Heh, sometimes—uh, sometimes it's hard to tell around here."

Winter peered at the handyman, arms crossed. "You knew? Was anyone going to tell us?"

"I, uh, well," Dipper stammered. He glanced around for an out and found Mabel stumbling down the hall toward them. "Ahahaha—hey! Mabel! Look who's here!"

She blew him off sleepily. "I can't even see right now. Come back later."

Summer wasn't far behind, looking much more sprightly – at least until she saw Winter's displeased look and the crowd in the living room. "Oh, am I missing something serious?"

"You're just in time," Stan said, flipping through journal one. "Dipper was just about to tell your sister about Bill Cipher." He stopped and looked up, feeling many pairs of eyes on him. "What? You never asked me if I knew anything. I didn't technically lie." Even half-awake Mabel was staring at him now. "Guess it's my turn to talk, huh. Fine. I'm gonna answer some questions I know you got first. No, I don't know who wrote these journals. No, I don't know why the portal activation sequence is in 'em. On the other hand, I know about Bill, 'cause..." He trailed off, searching the room for further words. "It's hard to explain."

"Does he have something to do with our situation?" Summer asked, now seated on the couch and gently trying to keep Mabel from dozing off again.

Stan's eyes became distant. "Everyone in Gravity Falls knows about Bill, even if it ain't something they're aware of. I'm sure you read the journal. He haunts your dreams."

"He hasn't haunted ours," Winter said flatly.

"Maybe you ain't been here long enough yet." He looked over as Dipper took journal two and started rifling through it. "Or maybe he doesn't know what to do with you. You've got strength in places you shouldn't."

"What does  _that_  mean?" Mabel complained, brain finally reattached to reality. "I mean, when we fought him..." The hair on her arms stood up when Summer's gaze landed on her. "Bro, I don't think we ever mentioned the whole invading-Grunkle-Stan's-mind business."

"Nope." He took a breath, closed the book, and proceeded to make hasty amends. "Long story short, Mabel, Soos and I had to save Stan from Bill after Gideon summoned him to steal the combination for a safe out of Stan's mind." A pause was necessary for more air. "We won after we figured out that-" When the memory hit him, Stan's remark about misplaced strength suddenly made sense. "Wait a second."

As usual, Mabel didn't. "I turned my hands into kitten cannons!" she exclaimed with glee, punching the air. "Bow! Kabow-pow-boom!"

Winter was genuinely surprised at her words. "You could change things?"

"Sure! You can do anything in the mind! Least that's what Dip said."

"Yeah, and that's exactly what Apollyon was trying to accomplish," Stan interjected, taking off his glasses. "They wanted to bring the power of dreams into reality. The project wanted to make telekinetic super-soldiers that could fly and do all sorts of stuff. Things kinda went off the rails after the hospital thing, though."

Wendy finally found the power to speak up. "How do you know? You got stuff we should be readin', man?"

"Heh, read? I don't need writing to remember this. I grew up watchin' it first hand." He drew back as Mabel stood, shaking hands balled into fists. Her eyes were incredibly upset. "What, kid?"

"Did you do the things?!" she demanded, voice wavering. "Did you do  _any_  of the things?!"

"What? No! I was eleven!"

"Oh. Oh." She sat back down with a sigh and mentally stepped away from the edge – at least until she noted how fidgety her great uncle still looked. "If there's a 'but' coming, I'ma grab it, and I'ma beat you with it. You hear me?"

"Stanton Pines," he said, arms halfway up in case Mabel made good on her promise to attack him. Summer put a hand on her shoulder to keep her sitting. "Thanks. Stanton was my grunk—I mean great uncle. He was also a science-y kinda guy."

Dipper raised his hand for attention. "Do I wanna hear what's coming next? I don't think I do."

"No, you don't. I'm gonna say it anyway: he was a scientist in Project Apollyon." He winced as Mabel began howling with – grief? Anger? It was hard to say which. "Wait! Wait! He was a theoretical physicist!"

This fact did nothing to quell her temper. "You've got five seconds to translate that into regular people words!" she yelled, a trembling finger pointed his way. Dipper's eyes said he had the answer, but neither him nor anyone else moved to calm her down.

While Wendy and Soos regarded Stan with nearly equal uncertainty, the identical twins' expressions were only curious. "He helped build the machine. The stuff that came after wasn't his doing, but the Seifert brothers..." Stan fell silent, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked away. "I knew Dietrich and Wilhelm. I knew them 'cause Stanley idolized the guys. Stanley is—was... my twin brother."

"You—you had a twin?" Dipper asked, eyes wide with shock. "But I... we never heard that from mom and dad. Where is he? I mean, is he—because I'm sorry if he is I just—I'll shut up now."

Something in the old man's eyes was deeply wistful. "It's fine. He went missing over thirty years ago."

"How?" Soos urged. "And, uh, do you want a hug?"

Stan waved aside his offer, but managed a minor smile. "'Cause he went into the portal. The Army tried that right after the thing was built, but everyone they sent in got vaporized. After it had been running a few weeks, though, they discovered people could go in without turning to dust and stay for a few seconds. That's when they started exposing people to the energy from the portal and sending them into it to see what else would happen. There were some, uh, weird results to say the least." He rose from the chair, moving to the windows to peer outside. "There still are."

"Wait, wait, thirty years ago would have been 1984," Dipper said, also unable to sit any longer. "The portal was active for  _that_  long after the war?!"

He looked back and shrugged. "I know it was active up until at least '63 'cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis and all that. Then the stuff with Wilhelm happened and, well..." He trailed off, rubbing his neck with a huge frown. "Stanley and I left town 'cause we were friends with the Seifert family. Caught a lot of hell. Anyway, they were still usin' the thing to create super-soldiers, or at least try."

"Did they succeed?" Summer asked. Her tone was too chipper for the topic; it caused Wendy, sitting on her right, to look perturbed.

"You got me. I know they learned what magic does to the human mind. They learned that it can become airborne. They also learned that it can alter human DNA so it'll be passed down to children." He expected the gasps of surprise – but once again, Winter and Summer were oddly unmoved. "After Stanley finished his doctorate at MIT, the government recruited him to come back here and decommission the project with a few other scientists. But something went wrong and he... he ended up in the portal and never came out. Musta been a big accident. He wasn't the only one to vanish."

"Dang, man, that blows. Did you ever find out what happened?" Mabel asked, hugging him so hard her arms began to hurt.

"No. Still don't know. Nobody would give me a straight answer," was all Stan could say. "I'm tryin' to find out. I'm tryin' to find out how to bring him back, too."

"Dude, I can't handle this anymore," Wendy advised, hunched over and scowling hard. "I don't... are there seriously magic users in Gravity Falls?" She glanced at the identical twins with a faint, apologetic smile. "I mean, other magic users."

Stan chuckled a bit, wiping his eyes with a sleeve. "Sure are, kid. You see 'em every single day. Like your dad for instance."

" _What_?!" she exclaimed, rising as if shot from a cannon. Every ounce of color drained from her cheeks.

"Come on, kid. No human is naturally that strong. Listen, magic doesn't necessarily give you abilities like Winter and Summer got. Sometimes it alters you in other ways."

"B-bu-bu-but how did he..." the redhead stammered, ready to faint.

He pushed his glasses back up his nose before replying. "That thing was open a long time. Magic was floating around looking for a place to go. The Army found out it liked people best, but not always. Most of the weird stuff you see around Gravity Falls are objects that were affected by its power." Stan nodded over to the journals. "And somebody made it their life's work to write it all down. I dunno who, and I dunno  _why_ , but they were real thorough."

Dipper's demeanor had suddenly changed. The shift was so violent it attracted his sister's attention away from trying to comfort Stan. "Bro? You okay?"

He said nothing, instead smoothing his hair back so his unbelievable birthmark was visible. He showed it to Stan, eyes shining with terror.

The old man knew exactly what his question was, but he lacked an answer. "I don't know, Dipper. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." He gave the boy a weak pat on the head and sighed. "Your grandparents lived here long enough, I know that."

By now, the whole room had been carpet bombed with emotions. Soos wasn't spared either – the devastation left him unsure who to reassure first or how. Frozen by awkwardness, he looked to the unflappable, absolutely composed Winter to give him a hand. After a bit of odd staring, she got his hint and stood. "Let's talk about something more immediate," she said loudly, drawing their focus. "I had a chat with one of their agents last night."

Wendy laughed a little out of exhaustion. "Oh, is that what the gunshot was for?"

"What gunshot?!" all three Pines yelled. "Did somebody shoot at my babies?" Stan added, picking up the young twins and holding them protectively. The fact that Dipper couldn't breathe and Mabel was struggling to get her arms free didn't register in the least.

Winter shook her head once. "No. Nobody was hurt. It did get my message across, however. I sent her back with an ultimatum to leave us alone – or else."

"I'd ask 'or else what?' but I already know and it's makin' me sad," Mabel said as she extracted her limbs from Stan's death grip. "This whole thing is makin' me sad."

Summer had been lost in thought for a while, but she suddenly chimed in. "Just in case they don't listen, we should be ready. What could we use from the journals?"

Dipper also squirmed free and dropped back to the floor. "I'm thinking the crystals are the best bet right now. We know where they are and how to use them. Grunkle Stan, any other ideas?" he asked, looking up just as the old man released his sister.

He shrugged a bit while adjusting his glasses. "I got some emergency equipment that might help at the shack, but I'll look through mine again and see if anything else could be useful. Wish I knew what the blank pages were about. Bothers me a little."

"Heh, maybe somebody wrote on them with invisible ink," Wendy said, smiling at a memory. "Poor Thompson. We made him think he was insane for three days. Man, was that fun."

Dipper emitted a thoughtful noise and frowned at the floor. "Invisible ink? At this point I'd believe anything. Anyway, let's start brainstorming before somebody sends in the National Guard to take us out."

* * *

Three hours later, they had a plan. Summer took the young twins in one direction, while Winter traveled with Stan and Soos into a different part of the woods. As Mabel and Dipper poked their way through the undergrowth, however, their mind was on the person who hadn't come with them. "Man, Wendy looked awful," the girl said. "I hope she's okay."

Dipper had much the same air about him. "Yeah," he replied, attention elsewhere. Journal three was tucked under his left arm.

"Bro bro?" She grabbed his shirt sleeve and gave him a few hard jostles. "Come on! Forget your space acne! You're totally fine!"

He swatted at her hand weakly. "It's a little hard to ignore, Mabel. I'm not sure I want to have that kind of power. No offense," he said, glancing behind him at the red-eyed woman.

"None taken," she assured him happily. "If it helps, I don't detect anything coming from you." Of course, she left out the fact that neither her nor Winter had detected any other human sources of magic since they'd landed in Gravity Falls.

"I guess it does, kinda." Dipper looked around as the woods grew darker. "This is starting to look familiar. I think we're close."

"I feel something up ahead," Summer added, head titled curiously. "A big thing."

The sunlight continued to retreat until its presence was limited to solitary lances of gold that pierced the canopy. One of these struck a shining object up ahead, barely visible through a sea of thick tree trunks. "There!" Dipper yelled, running ahead. "Come on!" When they caught up to him, he was standing before a gray boulder topped with a tall, bluish crystal. Smaller crystal points encircled it. Light struck the formation, but was split by the crystal from white into blue and pink. "Here it is. Gideon almost destroyed us with these, too. I'm struggling to think of anything he  _didn't_  try to destroy us with, to be honest."

Mabel and Summer had basically the same reaction: wide-eyed, mouth-agape awe. "This thing is too pretty for me," the former said, gawking up at the big one.

"And they're definitely magical," Summer added, tapping one with a fingernail. "How do they work?"

"I'll show you. Can you make me a flashlight?" Dipper watched her beat one instantly out of a sliver of tree bark and float it over. "Of course you can, why did I even wonder if you could, uh, thanks." He plucked a small crystal out of the formation and held it up. "Blue for big," he said, shining the light on a nearby fallen leaf – which suddenly blew up to the size of an umbrella. He then turned the crystal between his fingers, changing the glow to pink. The leaf shriveled back to normal. "Pink for small. Pretty much all there is to it."

Summer nodded with a smile. "How fun. Are you two going to fight over which one is taller again?"

"Nah, we cool!" Mabel grabbed her brother in a one-armed hug and grinned wide. "I'm gonna be taller until he's like 15 anyway. I won the battle, but he'll win the war."

"Yeah, unless I got all the short genes from mom," he countered with a smirk, though it died quickly. "Speaking of genes, I wonder what magic does to DNA. I... wonder a lot of stuff right now." He yelped when she slapped the back of his head. "Hey! You can't smack the questions out of my brain!"

"I can try, broseph!"

Summer, giggling at their exchange, yanked a crystal from the rock with her bare hand to examine it closer. "These should help. I don't think the bullets will hurt very much if they're as big as grains of sand."

"And maybe shrinking some fools will get everybody to back off," Dipper said, using a screwdriver to pry more of the stones free. "Okay, everyone gets a flashlight. Hopefully this time around we won't have to worry about Gideon doing something stupid with them."

Mabel took one of the stones and tossed it around with a smile. "I accept this plan only if we can go to the state prison and shrink him into a creepy little ant person. And very, very possibly stomp him. Or use a magnifying glass!"

"Wow. I'm pretty sure this is the only grudge you've ever held in your life."

"Even I have limits, bro."

They started back up the slope. Summer trailed behind, gazing into the crystal. The farther away from the formation she got, the easier it was to find this one's individual spark – but even then, the sensation was faint. This was the first time she'd ever detected magic in a clear body, and as such her brain had trouble resolving its invisibility. "Hmm." At last she went back to the task at hand. "Where are we going now?"

"Uh, I dunno," Dipper replied, thumbing through his journal. "We're kinda close to gnome territory. I dunno how they feel about us, especially me." He suddenly let out a laugh. "They might try to make you their queen! I'd pay money to see that. You'd mop the floor with them."

"Oh my, I'd be terrible royalty anyway," the red-eyed woman said with an awkward smile, though neither of the Pines noticed. She checked her magical radar. "I don't feel anything close by."

Mabel was looking a bit grumpy. "Good. They best stay back, otherwise they're getting a flamethrower to the face instead of a leaf blower. Don't nobody got time for their shenanigans right now."

Dipper stared at her for a moment. "I stand corrected. Two grudges."

"Actually..." She hesitated and looked up in thought. "Do I have a grudge against Pacifica or do I just hate her? I can't really tell sometimes."

Wind danced through the towering elms above. Summer half-followed the kids' conversation, although after a few moments her mind began to wander again. Lost in the motion of the trees, the presence within directed her eyes to one section of the canopy that wasn't moving as it should have. Leaves were fluttering, the branches swayed – but slowly, as if weighed down. Something was above them. "Wait," she said lowly, but they didn't hear her. " _Wait_."

Her commanding tone froze them both mid-step. Dipper looked back first. "What? What's up?" She was still gazing skyward, so he did the same. "What? What?"

"In the trees. I don't know what it is." Summer put herself between them and it in a flash. A dark, indistinct shape dropped to the forest floor. Then a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth. They uncoiled from their impacts into humanoid forms but did not approach.

"Just wanna confirm for you guys that those are  _not_  gnomes," Mabel said, peeking out from behind the red-eyed woman. "Dip, get your flashlight. Can you make me one?" She blinked when Summer's snap compressed one out of the thin air above. "Dang, that was fast even for you." A little more confident now, the twins brandished their makeshift weapons and flanked their escort. "All right! Let's do this! Unless you're not here for that, in which case let's be friends! My name's Mabel!"

Dipper rubbed his face and groaned as she waved happily. "Try to focus, please."

The shapes approached, though something was incorrect about their gait – they didn't have one. All six drifted along like phantoms, dragging their feet through the low grass and moss. Their passing through a shaft of sunlight didn't reveal much more, as they were all clad in bodysuits emblazoned with digital woodland camouflage. Helmets with visors covered their faces. They came to a stop about ten feet away, hovering line abreast as they formed a wall across the path. No insignia decorated their uniforms. They were silent, floating clones, three women and three men – and not a single gun between them.

"Confirm primary target, Summer Weiss," one of the men said, his voice altered and twisted by some sort of respirator.

"It's definitely her," one of the faceless women acknowledged. "What do we do with the kids?"

Another woman brought the first back in line. "Operations made our orders quite clear. Let's carry them out."

"Nope!" Mabel said, pointing her flashlight at one enemy. "Eat shiny height-changing light stuff!" It flew out of her hands before she could press the button. Dipper tried to use his own, only to get the same result. "Uh. What." Suddenly the twins themselves were airborne. "Whoa! Hey!"

"What the heck?" Dipper shouted, flailing hilariously. After a second or two, his limbs stopped moving. "...am I being hugged?" The confusion in his eyes was replaced by panic. "Ow! Ow! Stop squishing me!"

Summer's optimism had gotten the better of her again. Why didn't they have guns? The bad people here have guns. She knew why they didn't now, of course, but it was the kids' screaming that brought her right past reality and into a chorus of hundreds of little voices just like Mabel's, just like Dipper's, that sprung from the darkest reaches of her memory. She vaguely heard one of her assailants say she was too heavy to lift; it wasn't weight, but her own power that automatically kept her anchored to the ground. But that remark was lost in the screaming. Endless, echoing, overwhelming screaming. It seemed like an eternity shambled past before her eyes.

Actually, it was only a few seconds – but spurred on by the real cries from her sides, and the false ones from her nightmares, that was all the time needed for Summer to discard her humanity.


	20. You Were Warned

Under normal circumstances, Mabel would have taken the phrase 'giving someone's heart a hug' and run it happily into the ground until Dipper complained about hearing the words in his sleep. Given the context, however – and the utterly _blinding_ pain that came with it – she'd have to pass. Her body had no idea how to qualify her heart being squeezed this way, and so decided to describe the situation as a heart attack. Words were out of reach for both of them. Only agonized wheezing remained.

And then it all stopped. The pain stopped. The organ crushing stopped. Unfortunately, their suspension in mid-air also stopped; they fell to the ground and squirmed in anguish, gasping for air.

"I can't move her!" one of the women soldiers yelled again, visibly shaking with concentration. "Why is she so heavy?!" Even assistance from a male companion yielded no effect. "What is..."

"What—what made me drop the kids?" another of the men asked.

Summer wore a smile now, the sort of grin one would put on when having a chat with the end of the world. "I'm sorry. That was me. Thank you for helping me aim," she said, her gratitude hollow. A loud, wet pop rang out from under her target's helmet, sending him limply to the ground. "It looks like my sister's message didn't get delivered." All of them were invisibly assaulting her by this point, but their attacks were a gentle, tingling breeze over her skin. "Oh, _n_ _ow_ you're afraid."

"Nobody told us she was psionic!" one of the women yelled. "What are we supposed to do?!"

"Disengage!" The troopers scattered, flying off in different directions.

"Hide and seek?" Summer asked the forest. The tone of her smile changed from idle apocalypse to amused shark. "How fun. Of course I'll play with you." The hunt was on. She rocketed away into the woods, kicking up a cloud of moss and grass in her wake.

Only Mabel had the vaguest idea that the red-eyed woman was gone, but there was a bigger concern now anyway: her brother wasn't making noise any longer. "Dipper?" she called, still unable to sit up. When he didn't reply, anxiety crept in and made her chest hurt even more. "D-Dipper? Bro? Hello?" Silence. There was no choice but to rise now. After grimacing her way through the pain, she found him more or less where he'd fallen, face down and still. The dead soldier was between them, a puddle of crimson blooming under his head. "Oh. Well. I'm gonna say we might be in some trouble here." Walking was out of the question, so she crawled past and fell on Dipper's back. "Boop. Armless hug." He was still breathing at least – she could feel herself slowly moving up and down. "Dipperrrrrrrrr, come on. Things is happening." She weakly poked the back of his hat. "Earth to dork! A-are you okay down there?"

"Why—why are you laying on me," he finally said in protest, groaning afterward. "And did you punch me in the chest?"

"No way, bro, those weird guys did. With their _minds_." She looked back at the corpse and swallowed hard. "Just an FYI, I think Summer's blown a gasket and might be about to kill us all? Not really sure where she went."

"Terrific." Dipper gave her a nudge to make her get off. Even after she did, he couldn't manage to right himself. "Agh, I feel like someone parked a bus in my lungs." After some struggling on both ends, Mabel helped him off his stomach and upright. "Thanks... uh... wow," he said lowly, eyes landing on the body. "She did that?"

Mabel refused to look over again. "I guess. I don't really wanna think about it."

"Yeah. I can see why." While trying to recover, he took a long look around. Aside from an occasional singing bird, the forest was empty and deathly silent. "We need to get out of the open," he said, rising with great difficulty to his feet. "Can you walk?"

Once she managed to stand, the kids stumbled away from the body and managed to get about twenty yards before falling against a tree trunk, utterly spent. "Does this count as out of the open?" Mabel asked with a whine. "'Cause I don't think I'm gettin' all the way outta here without somebody carrying me."

"Better than nothing." Dipper held her close, eyes darting around as he searched for any sign of their chaperone. "Where did the other guys g-" A man's scream cut him off, slashing through the air and bouncing off seemingly every object as it traveled. "Okay!" he squeaked. "New plan! Hide here and stay really quiet for the next hour or so!"

She lacked a snappy comeback, betraying just how deep her fear ran. Silence washed over them, broken at intervals by a random shout – though sometimes it was a cheerful laugh instead, fading in and out with distance and direction. Its source was easily recognizable. "Is that who I think it is?" she whispered. "What is she laughing at?"

He grew pallid thinking about it. "I dunno, but I hope she keeps the joke to herself." A loud crack followed his words, so powerful the twins could feel its lingering bass notes pass through their bodies. Summer's giggling chased the noise away. "Wh-what the heck?"

"Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope not gonna ask questions. Happy thoughts now. Kittens." She sank eyeball-deep into her starry blue sweater and tried not to shake so hard. "All the kittens." A shape came around the trunk – one of the soldiers, helmet gone, floated by. Her back was to the kids as she looked around, brown ponytail flying. It didn't matter that they hadn't been spotted; Mabel screamed at the top of her lungs in fright anyway. Somehow she managed one even louder than that when the soldier turned to face them.

However, their hearts weren't seized again. "Hey, you're her friends right?" the woman asked anxiously. "You can talk her down, can't you?"

"Didn't you _just_ try to kill us?" Dipper countered bitterly, trying to calm his sister. "And now you're begging for help?"

Begging, indeed; she did everything short of drop to her knees to get them to help. "Listen, if you let me get out of here, I'll go back to headquarters and make them stop. I promise. We didn't know what we were getting into here," she explained, voice wavering.

Mabel, clutching her chest, glared daggers at the woman. "Oh, sure! Winter tried the same thing last night and look how friggin' awesome _that_ went!"

"Okay, okay, that's fair enough." She clasped her hands in front of her face, growing more teary-eyed with each passing moment. "Come on, guys, don't let me die out here. Please?"

"Er, well, when you put it that way..." Dipper removed his hat and thought for a moment. "I guess I don't want somebody getting killed on my conscious. I mean, along with that," he said, waving in the direction of her fallen comrade. "Hey, Mabel, you're the loudest, you yell for her. 'Sev'Ral Timez just released a new single' volume should do it."

Her lips pursed at his request. "Are you sure? Like, really, really sure?" A nod made her brow furrow. "If I die, I'm gonna kill you." She spent a moment preparing and started to suck in air. The pain stopped her almost instantly. "Ow! I don't think I can. _Somebody_ tried to squish my ticker, you know."

"My bad," the soldier sighed, blushing with regret. "Maybe I should just get out-" She whirled in midair, only to find Summer floating in her way. All three of them screamed this time.

"H-h-h-hey there, soul sister!" Mabel said as fast as her mind and lips would move. Her feigned happiness shattered when the soldier moved aside, allowing them to see the red-eyed woman. A dripping crimson sleeve decorated her left arm from fingertip to elbow. Bits of gray and white and purplish-blue were flecked in the blood. From the right corner of her mouth ran a thin trail of black substance, though it clung to her chin and did not fall. If the glassiness in her ruby eyes was any indication, she wasn't exactly herself at the moment.

"This was a bad idea," she told the trooper with a light smile. Despite the vacant tone, her expression lacked jittery, bloodthirsty lunacy. The Pines, staring up at her, couldn't decide if seeing her so calm was worse than the insane picture they'd dreamed up while listening to her rampage. "Are you still bothering them, even after what you've seen?"

The soldier waved her hands in denial. "No! No way. Look, man, I just wanna make a deal."

"Yeah, we're all good!" Dipper added forcefully, trying to hide his pain with a smile. "I think everyone's made their point, so let's just walk away and call it a day. Right? Right?"

"They made you cry," Summer denied, her words hard as diamond. "I don't believe you understand how angry that makes me." Arms flailing, the soldier tried to fly for it, but she pinned her in the air and kept her still. "Don't you _dare_ run from me."

"Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa." Mabel winced her way into a standing position. "Summer, relax. We're fine! Right, bro bro?"

He plopped his hat back on and nodded furiously. "Y-yeah! Completely cool. No chest pain or anything. Yep." His lie fell apart when he tried to stand and failed, landing on his knees in a gasping pile. "Aaahhh... Sorry. Just—uh, give me a minute."

Summer frowned at his distress before turning displeased eyes to her captive. "You and I need to have a talk," she stated quietly, dragging the woman through the air along after her. They went behind the tree.

"They're not gonna talk, are they?" Mabel asked, dropping back to the ground and hugging her knees.

Dipper swallowed hard. "I doubt it. Should we go after them?"

"I can't move, bro..." Her eyes suddenly lit up with hope. "But I can be loud! Hey, Summer! Hey! Come on, now, we're fine! Dipper's just a huge weenie. Let's go home and go to McDonald's and forget all this happened, okay?" she yelled over her left shoulder, desperate to talk her out of anything horrible. "Please? Pretty please with an industrial-size barrel of sprinkles on top?"

On the other side, Summer already had her writhing prey secured to the tree trunk with spikes of ebony, which she'd nailed through her hands. Her cries were muffled with a sticky gag of the same substance. "I should have known better than to think they'd listen," she muttered with disgust. "Of all people, I should have known better. Well..." She paused, floating back a few feet to contemplate her options. "If reason won't work, I'll make our message a little more clear."

"Summer?" Dipper called. "What's going on back there, man? We all good?"

"Everything is fine," she replied, rubbing her chin in thought. "Just rest there a-" Tingling on her shoulder blades made her turn around and stare into the forest. "-moment." Hand outstretched, she fired and retracted a column of magic in that direction just to see what it would grab. She'd hooked another thrashing soldier, who tumbled through the air as she reeled him in. "Oh, good. I want someone to see this." To silence his struggling, she ran a fist into his throat. "No, shh."

Her charges heard enough of something to be worried. "What was that?" Mabel asked. "I heard other people! What's going on?"

Summer stared at her limp and gurgling catch as she held up him up by the collar. "Another one of them just attacked me. I think we're finished talking."

"No! No!" both twins yelled frantically. "Summer! Don't do anything you'll regret! Please! Let's just get out of here!" Dipper added between coughs.

Sadness crept into her smile as she murmured. "Oh, Dipper. That advice is about five years-" her free hand balled up into a tight fist, "-and several hundred bodies too late." She drove it through the woman's skull and into the oak tree behind, shaking it with the force.

"What the heck was that?!" Mabel screamed. "Summer?!"

She ignored the cry. After withdrawing her arm, she held up the other victim and pointed. "Look at this. This is a warning – our last. If you live, you'd better deliver it. If you don't, you'd better pray someone else does." He flew through the air – physically thrown, as she didn't feel he was worth the effort of telekinesis – and landed out of sight with a faint thud.

"Summer!" Dipper, this time. "Answer us! What's going on?"

"Hmm." She peered up through a shower of leaves, detached by her punch, and sighed before shouting back. "Everything is fine. I gave them another chance to back off, that's all." The now-faceless body got another glance. "Are you all right?"

"No! No we are not! You get over here this instant and, um, on second thought I should probably drop the threatening tone. Hahaha! Oh wow I'm scared."

She gazed at her bloody arms and sighed. "In a moment." While the twins fussed and fretted about their situation, Summer began to suck the crimson off her fingertips. As the blood touched her lips, the trail of black fluid flowed up back up her chin, disappearing between them.

* * *

"Dude, can you eat these?"

Stan groaned at the question again; Soos had asked it once every five or so minutes since they'd arrived in the grove. He was curious about a hearty-looking clump of blue mushrooms with purple spots that grew from the roots of a gnarled, dark tree. "I don't know how many times I gotta say 'these mushrooms explode when eaten'."

"But they look delicious! So colorful. So enticing. Hmm. Yummy mushrooms, exploding death, yummy mushrooms, exploding death," he said, balancing the options with hand motions. "I gotta think about this one."

Winter rolled her eyes at the exchange. One of the mushrooms was in her hand, sending out a faint magical signal that was almost lost in the larger cluster. "Now I know why the entry mentions gunpowder. They must change themselves in self-defense." Her face screwed up as she contemplated the mechanism. "Although I'm still not sure how they generate the ignition source."

"I dunno, probably from the body's own electrical doohickeys. You know, nerve impulses or whatever. Or maybe stomach acid." Stan picked a few and placed them gently into his blazer's interior pocket. "Hey, can you talk to these things? Could you ask them not to blow up? I'd appreciate it."

She stared at him in disbelief at first, then shrugged lightly. "I can't say I've ever been asked to chat with fungus before, but I'll try."

"Great, thanks." He swatted Soos' hand away from the clump. "No. You don't play well with magic. Bad Soos."

He waved away the sting and pouted. "Aw, Mister Pines. I swear the fairy thing wasn't my fault. I just saw a really shiny fly. Didn't know what was up until Mabel stared at me like that."

"Yeah, well. You don't just go around swatting things to death unless you're sure they're bugs." He produced a flashlight and waved for them to follow. "All right. There's a tree near here that produces glue sap. Literal glue. Figure it might be good for some traps and maybe to put my spare reading glasses back together. Besides, Soos is gonna get his hand stuck to the trunk and I wanna laugh at him."

Soos pumped his fist with excitement. "Sweet! Like sticking your tongue to a flagpole in the winter!"

Patience wearing thin – an hour of their idle banter was more than she could take – Winter decided to ask some hard questions. "Where did this Bill Cipher come from?"

Stan's brow furrowed as he shone the light around. "Things go in the portal, things come out. Like any other door."

Now her curiosity was piqued. If that was so... "I should be able to feel him, shouldn't I?"

"I don't think he exists on this plane," Soos said thoughtfully. "When we fought him, it was in Stan's brain. Maybe he just operates in dreams? Then again... me and Hambone – I mean Mabel – saw Gideon summon him into reality, sooooooo..." His face went blank. "My head hurts."

"That's what you get for trying to understand Bill. Oh, and for the record, none of you are ever allowed in my mind again. All my nightmares are in technicolor now," he complained with a shudder. "Some of them aren't even in English!"

"But why hasn't he visited _us_?" Winter asked again. Her face also dropped when she realized there was an obvious answer – they didn't really sleep a lot. "Mm... never mind. I suppose it isn't important."

Stan chuckled faintly. "Heh, I wouldn't say that. If Bill's leaving you two alone, that's great news." His eyes suddenly grew distant. "Yeah. Great news."

His gloomy tone spurred another thought, one Winter hadn't toyed with since that night at the party. "Summer and I saw one of the spirits follow you at the party a few days back. Who was it?"

The question stopped him cold. "I don't wanna talk about it," he replied, rubbing underneath his glasses. "Doesn't have anything to do with anything anyway."

"Mister Pines?" Soos asked, hand raised in concern. "You all right?"

For once, the old man went with honesty as he started walking again. "No, Soos. No, I am not. Forget it, we got a weird tree to find."

She respected his denial this time, but only because it rang so familiar. They trundled on, hampered by thick undergrowth and ever-dimming light. The forest morphed into something that seemed more appropriate for a horror movie than a quaint valley in Oregon, becoming abyssal as night and quiet as a tomb. "Where is this tree, exactly?" she asked, frowning at the change in their surroundings.

"Uh, yeah. Just a heads up, it's been a while since I looked for it. We may or may not be lost."

"I should have-" Her voice failed, killed off by the smell that suddenly filled her nose. Wafting through the angry black was a scent she hadn't detected since they day they first visited the Mystery Shack. "That smell."

"What smell?" Stan took a curious sniff at his armpit. "Isn't me."

"I don't smell anything either," Soos confirmed, glancing around the dark forest. "What's it smell like?"

In order to keep anyone from panicking, she decided not to be too exact with the fleshy description of the odor. "I'm not sure. It's like trees, but with something else." She took careful steps over the tangled roots, playing hot or cold with the scent. It didn't change in intensity, no matter which direction she traveled. "It seems to be everywhere."

"Should we be worried?" Stan asked. He swept the flashlight around at every sound, perceived or not. "Too late. I already am." The beam went across an object, one recognizable enough that he brought the light back to it and squinted. "Hold on, what's..." It was a shoe, black with white soles. "I've seen this on someone's foot before." His eyes lit up with terror. "Dipper!"

"What?" Winter gave chase as the two men ran to investigate. "He's with Summer." And yet here the boy was – mostly. A portion of his left leg was gone, while the rest of him was entangled in a gnarly bramble at the base of a tree. His head had fallen off and rolled to the side. Empty eyes stared skyward. One other thing was missing, however: blood. The flashlight couldn't find a drop. "Oh, this must be one of the clones he told me about. He mentioned that two of them got away." She reached down and pulled at the body's left arm. The limb's texture was damp paper, not flesh – and with barely any urging, it pulled apart at the elbow. "Yes. It's fine. It's not him."

Stan's eyes said it was anything but. "First, stop messin' with that because I don't wanna dream about you dismemberin' my great nephew, and second, what clones? Who cloned him?"

"He cloned himself, with the copier in your office." When she raised up and looked back at him, his utter shock caught her off guard. "Mm? Didn't you know?"

"You can copy _people_ in that old crate? I didn't... I..." He slapped his forehead in amazement. "How? Is it magical too?"

"I didn't detect anything. Perhaps because the portal was too loud." Winter was just about to walk away from the clone when a noise attracted her attention. "Wait," she said lowly, hand up. "Quiet." Tinny and distressed, it seemed like someone crying, but that was all she could discern. "We're not alone. Wait here." Floating off the ground, she tracked the noise to another twisted trunk, peeked around, and found a woman in a camouflage bodysuit with a helmet by her hip on the ground. She wept bitterly into her hands. "Who are you?"

"Oh no, not again!" she screamed, throwing up her arms in defense as she jumped to her feet. A closer look served to dampen her terror – for a moment. "Oh, you're not... you're her sister. Shit!" She unleashed a wave of power, but like last time it had little effect. "Oh no..."

Brow furrowed, Winter seized her with her mind and dragged her, shrieking with fright, back toward her companions. "A real, live magic user. And how would you know Summer?"

"I don't know how to answer this without dying!"

Her turquoise eyes narrowed. "I suggest you figure out a way."

Some seconds later, her captive decided honesty was the best policy. "I, I mean we kind of attacked her and those kids..."

This confession arrived just as Stan and Soos came within sight – and earshot. Confused, the old man walked over. "Huh? Who's she? Attacked wh-" The look on Winter's face said it all. His uncertainty morphed into rage. "Oh no. You what? You _what_?! Where are they? What did you do to them?" he demanded, waving his flashlight angrily. "I want answers, whoever you are! Who _is_ she, by the way? Just for reference, I want a name to scream."

"I don't care what her name is, but I do want to know what happened." Winter dropped her against a tree and crouched, frowning as the woman curled into a ball and tipped over. "But based on her emotional state, I can venture a guess."

The soldier hugged her knees. "She was so _strong_... she... we couldn't. We couldn't take out any of 'em. Then she killed..."

"Killed? I think I've heard enough," Soos said, fidgeting with worry. "Is everyone okay? Our guys, I mean."

Winter turned the blubbering woman into a marble, stuffed her in her jeans pocket, and prepared the group to fly. "I don't know, but we'd better find out."

* * *

The whole scene had been sanitized. The body Mabel and Dipper had seen was gone, replaced by flowers. The body they hadn't, nailed to the tree, was also gone – though blood was soaked into the bark. The twins were still sitting on the other side, but Summer was now between them. She was clean too; no more blood on her arms, nor on her dress. She'd even changed it to a new silver one, figuring the color red wasn't one they'd want to see right now. If she could be certain they wouldn't ask questions, she would have even changed the color of her eyes to ease their misery.

Misery was too strong a word, perhaps. They languished, clinging to her because she was the only one to cling to. She could tell from their grip that they weren't totally happy with the arrangement, but waited for them to break the silence. Eventually, Mabel obliged. "You just straight up killed a guy," she said, looking up from her knees. "...it wasn't just one, was it?"

"No, it wasn't just one," she admitted quietly, eyes in her lap. "Are—are you mad at me?"

Her question seemed entirely misplaced, especially to Dipper. "What? No. You saved our lives. Again. It's just, I—I don't know. I knew it was serious, but now people are dying. And trying to murder us – us directly, I mean." He sighed deeply, which made him wince with pain. "I just hope nobody's tried to hurt the others."

"Sister would stop them." Summer finally looked up, but didn't make eye contact. "I guess some part of the project is still active if they're fielding soldiers like that. I wonder what we should do now."

"How 'bout a letter?" Mabel went straight to work composing one out loud. "'Dear shadowy government assassins, we're really sorry that we found your thing. Please don't kill us? Let's just forget all this ever happened. Signed, your best, not-at-all-curious-about-anything-you've-done buddy, Mabel'. And then about fifty stickers." She pulled a book full of them from under her sweater and searched through it with trembling fingers. "Huh, what kinda stickers do you put on a letter like that?"

"Do you think they'd go after mom and dad?"

Dipper's abrupt words made her blood turn to ice. Eyes closed and teeth clenched, she tried to smash down the wave of emotion washing over her. It was a losing effort; in a few seconds she began to sob. "What if they already have?"

Now they were _both_ crying. Summer swept them up, one in each arm, and tried to hug their fear away. "I think we've waited long enough. Let's go home. Winter will have to catch up with us."

They didn't have to wait long. As she carried them out of the woods, her sister flew right past with Stan and Soos calling for the twins. Even after she'd brought the train to a stop, they kept yelling. "I think we've found them," she noted loudly and pointed. "See?"

"Kids!" Stan ran to them just as soon as he was let go, though the tingling of her grip made his steps somewhat jerky. "Gah! That feels weird! Ugh!" He took them from Summer and hugged them tight. "Oh, I was so worried."

"Yeah, so were we." Dipper gave Soos a weak wave as he walked up. "Hey, man. You guys find anything?"

"Some mushrooms that explode! Totally gonna microwave one later. Oh yeah, and we found one of the folks that roughed you guys up." He winced as the kids screeched with horror. "No, no, we're all good. She didn't fight us or anything."

"You three all right?" Stan asked, glancing over at Summer.

"Yeah, I guess. They tried to squish us, so we're kinda hurting over here." Mabel grumbled a bit while rubbing her eyes. "I just wanna go home, call mom and dad, and sleep for about a day. After lunch. Dang, I'm hungry."

"Sounds good to me," Dipper agreed. "And I'm with Summer. What do we do now? Because I dunno if our plan covers super-powered special forces, if that's what they are."

The identical twins, standing together and holding hands, already knew the answer. Winter's pocket was emitting a tiny magical spark. "We'll deal with it later," the blue-eyed woman decided. "Let's get out of here. Once we're all settled we can figure out a plan."

"What if they come for us again?" Stan asked, crossing his arms. "Maybe we oughta stay in the lab tonight. All of us."

"Perhaps." Winter looked at her sister again, frowning at the sullenness in her ruby eyes. "Wherever we go, I suppose all we can do now is wait for their response."


	21. Diplomacy

A stormy sunset saw a pile of exhausted twins on Winter and Summer's living room sofa – or two exhausted twins and two  _pretending_  to be exhausted twins. Summer had Mabel in her lap, drooling and almost snoring, while Winter had an out-cold Dipper slumped against her stomach. They were the only four people in the house. A frantic phone call to California had revealed no problems with the Pines' parents; with that fear no longer around to sustain them, the kids simply had no more left to give. Stan – reluctantly – let them stay with the identical twins for now. Nobody had heard from Wendy since that morning, either. It was Winter's decision to leave her out of the loop for now unless events warranted otherwise.

Summer had already taken her catnap, but remained as still as possible to keep from waking anyone up. It was impossible for her not to smile at the clump of people surrounding her. "How cute," she whispered. Winter seemed to be asleep – but when she searched out her hand, it squeezed her fingers in return. "Hmm? Are you awake?"

"Partially," she muttered. "Worried. About everything. About you."

"Oh." She ducked her head slightly and pouted. "I'm fine. I think I might have overreacted to the... you know."

Winter nodded once, but held no contempt in her expression. "Mm. I'm not sure I would have nailed someone to a tree." Her eyes grew distant. "Actually, I'm not sure what I would have done. At any rate, you know none of us are mad at you."

"I know, I just feel terrible about losing control. Especially in front of them." Another peek down at the kids made her frown. "Shouldn't we put these two to bed? We're all muscle and bone, we can't be very comfortable."

One minutes-long, careful dance with magic and old-fashioned slow movements later, the kids were in their bedroom and safely tucked away. After making sure the tingles wouldn't rouse them, the sisters withdrew back down the hall and toward the living room. "You snapped a little, didn't you?" Winter asked gently.

A crestfallen Summer hung her head. "I snapped a lot."

"No, you didn't," she denied, taking her hand again. "Trust me, I know what 'snapping a lot' looks like." A sound stopped their chat from getting any farther: the generic ringing of their home phone. "Mm, this must be Stan again. I don't know why he didn't stay."

"It could be important, you know. We'd better see what he wants."

They moved into the kitchen to find out – but the number on the ID wasn't familiar. A confused Winter answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, man. Uh, which one of you is this again?" Wendy – and she sounded a bit frazzled. "It's so hard to tell over the phone."

She cocked a brow, scowling faintly. "This is Winter. Is something wrong?"

"Uh, well, I'm not totally sure. I'm outside the Hermanos Brothers – you know, the Mexican place with the stupid hat? And I just saw..." Lightning made her trail off for a moment. "Woo, that was a close one. Uh, this government car drove by. It looked like it was headed up toward your place."

"A what?" Winter put her on speaker. "How could you tell it was a government car?"

She laughed a bit. "The logo on the side helped. So did the "U.S Government" text printed on the doors in billion-point font."

Summer gnashed teeth and began to pace. "What could they possibly want with us now?"

"I don't think I want to know." Winter fell silent for a moment to gather her thoughts. "They didn't stop and talk to you, did they?"

"Huh? Nah. Why? Should they have? Do I need to be freaking out right now?"

She glanced out the window at another flash of lightning and scowled. "No, just curious. All right, thank you for the warning. We'll deal with it if they do show up."

"Right, right. I gotta go round up my brothers. Later."

Not five minutes after she'd hung up did a yellow glow become apparent through the front windows. Summer peeked through the curtains and found a black sedan coming to a stop along the sidewalk. "Well, they're certainly not trying to hide anything, are they?" she said, making a face at the massive text emblazoned along the doors. She watched as two men in black suits emerged, unfurled black umbrellas, and walked toward the house. "Oh, these aren't the ones you knocked out. By the way, what did you do with them?"

"I decided I'd let them wake up and escape. Perhaps I should have turned them into clarinets." Winter waited at the door, arms folded, until she heard a knock. "This should be interesting."

There they stood, looking grim and professional. One was an older, balding man with dark hair and a mustache. The other was somewhat younger, with sandy, spiky hair and a strong jawline. The older man spoke first. "Miss Weiss, and... Miss Weiss," he greeted awkwardly. "I'm Agent Powers. This is Agent Trigger." They showed equally grave-looking picture IDs. "We're with the United States Government."

"We noticed," Summer said, glancing past them at their car. "Why are you here?"

"Just to talk. May we come in?"

The twins stepped forward, forcing them back, and shut the door behind them. "Based on what happened last time someone from your government came into our house, no. We'll talk out here," Winter advised with a chilly gaze. "So? Start talking."

The agents shared an uncertain look before Powers spoke again. "Very well. It's come to our attention that you may have become aware of a defunct military project. We know this resulted in some, uh, incidents, but we don't have the security clearance to get those details. Any actions taken against you were not our agency's doing."

"Also, there are rumors running around that you're aliens," Agent Trigger added. "Completely baseless and incorrect, I assume."

Summer shot down that notion with a cheerful smile. "Oh, sister wasn't lying about that. Didn't anyone talk to the woman she sent back last night? Everything she said is completely true. We're not from this planet, and bullets just sort of annoy us, not hurt us."

"Well. Excuse us a moment." Powers lead his partner off the porch and back into the rain. They could tell he was having a conversation with someone via his earpiece.

"I suppose things are going well so far," Winter muttered, watching them like hawks. She perked up a bit as they returned. "Yes?"

Powers again took the lead. "First, uh, welcome to Earth on behalf of the people of the United States."

Summer tilted her head. "How kind of you," she said with a faint smile. "Everyone has been very nice. Except your colleagues. They haven't."

"Our apologies, ma'am. Joint headquarters would like to know what happened to the twenty-seven other operatives that were sent here, including two extremely high-value assets that haven't reported back, and three others from their unit that were found dead in the forest northeast of here."

"Twenty-seven?" Summer tapped her chin, thinking of the flower pot full of marbles and trying desperately to avoid memories of the woods. "Hmm. That seems about right. We're holding them." She hung her head again and sighed. "The deaths are my fault. And there are four, but you won't find the other body."

"I... see. Let me call it in." Powers moved away again to have a covert chat, but this time he was back in less than a minute. "All right. Our superiors have authorized us to negotiate," he explained, faintly anxious.

"And we'd like to personally ask you not to capture and/or murder us. I'm far too grizzled and exceptional to die," Trigger added, apparently completely serious.

Winter rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to one hip and staring them down. "Oh, I see. Attempt to kill first, then try diplomacy when you fail. Better late than never, I suppose. Very well, we'll talk." Neither of the agents knew how to respond; even if they did, she didn't care to hear it. "But what is there to negotiate?"

"An exchange. HQ would like the personnel back, so let's make a deal," Powers replied, straightening his tie. "Within reason, of course."

"If you'd stop dispatching people to kill us and our friends, that would be a start."

He regarded Summer with a frown. "I'll pass that along."

"Mm, how thoughtful of you," Winter said, words soaked with disdain. "They can try sending more assassins, if they like. Eventually we will run out of patience and start calling  _our_  friends. The ones from home."

"Oh, and you don't want that," Summer added cheerfully. "Some of them are quite scary when they're mad!"

"Understood," Powers nodded. "I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot, so..."

"That's an understatement." Winter smoothed her hair back and laid down terms. "We'll return your personnel, but we demand that you stop trying to murder everyone, stop monitoring our communications, and otherwise leave all of us be while we figure out what's going on."

"Whoa, whoa we can't let you investigate any further," Trigger denied.

Annoyed, Summer lifted them with her magic and pressed them against the porch ceiling. "Listen, you, I've already had a bad enough day. Play ball or leave us alone. Actually, just leave us alone. Why is that so hard? We were perfectly content to poke around and pretend to be normal until you sent that idiot with the gun!"

Winter put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Summer, calm down."

"I am calm." The agents weren't, though – she stared up at their confused flailing. "If you needed any further convincing, now you have it. You also have our terms." She let them down and watched as they tried to dance the tingle away.

"Yes ma'am," Powers said breathlessly. "I sense a lack of trust here, so we'll report back and get them to stop the operations. We're not really in a position to make promises beyond that, so headquarters will probably send a mediator in the morning to hash out the other requests – assuming you can prove the safety of your captives."

"We can. We've nothing more to say," Winter said with a glare as she pointed back toward their car. "Get out of our lives. When you do, you'll get your people back." The agents themselves obliged her, leaving straight away, but the twins lingered and watched the thunderstorm. "I hope I didn't just dig a deeper hole."

Summer shrugged a bit. "No, I think you made our point. It's up to them now."

"Mm." Another rumble of thunder passed by. "We should get those phones on our plan tomorrow. Hopefully, the hardware will work."

"Ah, so you don't trust them?"

She smiled at the teasing tone in Summer's voice. "Not as far as I can throw them." Her face screwed up a little. "That analogy doesn't really work for us, does it?"

Her smile became a wry grin. "I guess not. More waiting and seeing then? I'm not sure how much clearer we can make ourselves."

Winter stared down the street in the direction the black car had departed. "If they try something again, I know a few ways."

* * *

 "No, stop hugging me. No. No..." Mabel grumbled in her sleep, fighting with the air as she tossed in bed. "Your hugs are bad. No." An accidental smack to her own face forced her awake. "Ow. What the—oh, I was dreaming." She sat up and rubbed her cheek. "And I just slapped myself upside my own head." Her mood only got worse when she looked around the dark room. "Still here. Great. Wonder who's gonna try and kill us... today?" Sure enough, her watch confirmed it was Tuesday – 6:00 AM, to be exact. "Oh boy, now I'm on Dipper Standard Time," she said with a grin. To ease her nerves, she looked over to check on him. He was sprawled out, snoozing quietly. "Okay. We're all good. Good. Yeah."

But a moment later she realized there were no footsteps – no one was on patrol. The house was incredibly quiet. Unnerved again, she slipped out of bed and left the room to do her own sweep. This was the first time she'd really looked around the place, and upon finding two of the other bedrooms completely empty she got confused. "Huh? Where's all their stuff?" The third bedroom contained a bed, but no twins. "I don't like this." She moved quickly toward the living room, nearly losing her footing on the polished oak floors a few times. There she found them, cuddled up together and asleep on the couch. Mabel slid to a stop and regarded the scene for a moment. "Oh, phew. Also, awwww. Is that what we look like to people when we're cute together? Man, no wonder everyone loves us."

Adrenaline subsiding, she carefully sat down and tried to get her mental bearings. This included turning on the TV and looking for something fun to watch. Given the early hour, however, all she got was news and infomercials. "From the makers of Owl Trowel," she whispered, reading along, "comes the all-new Beaver Cleaver?" A demonstration of the device made her retch and change the channel. "Ew, go away. And bro bro wonders why I don't wake up early."

"Why would anyone want to cleave a beaver?" Winter asked lowly, startling the girl. "Sorry. Perhaps I should learn to wake up louder."

Mabel, hand to her chest, had to catch her breath before replying. "Yeah, you sleep ninja." They shared a smile. "Did anything happen while me and Dip were knocked out?"

"Yes." She waved off the horrified look. "No, a good thing. They're negotiating with us now. Someone will be here later to talk more, but it seems no more hit squads will be coming after us for the moment. Perhaps you and Dipper will be able to go back to the Mystery Shack today."

Mabel's smile outshone the TV. "I wanna explode but I don't wanna wake up Summer. Be right back."

Winter, head tilted, watched her hop off the couch and skitter down the hall. Seconds later, a series of happy noises reached her ears. It all made her smirk to herself. "Mm, that sounds rather familiar." She waved slightly as the girl returned. "Feel better?"

"Wooooooooo!" she cheered quietly, still beaming as she returned to her seat. "Does everyone else know?"

"Yes. We didn't want to wake you up. You were too adorable sleeping."

Grinning again, Mabel went back to channel surfing. "Pff, we get that a lot. You guys are pretty cute too. Twins are literally the best. So, like, when will whoever be here?"

Winter tried to shrug, but with Summer draped over her it proved difficult. "Not sure. Sometime this morning."

"Ooo, exciting. In a good way! For once."

So they all killed time, including the red-eyed woman after she woke up. She and Mabel went to spruce themselves up a bit for the occasion, leaving Winter to figure out how to deal with breakfast. It was the smell of food that attracted a half-awake Dipper. "Tacos?" he droned, stumbling into the kitchen. "For breakfast? Not complaining, I'm totally on board with this, but..."

"Mm. I just want some for some reason." With a quick, magical tug, she stopped him from falling over. "The government is ready to talk. We got them to stop sending people after us, too. All of us."

"Oh." Further reaction was delayed by the fog of sleep, but it hit like a brick upon arrival. "What? Really?" he asked, now fully alert. "How? When?"

She nodded at the flower pot and the glistening marbles inside. "Yesterday. They want the people we've captured. We want them to back off on a permanent basis. I think it's a fair trade, but we'll see what happens when their mediator shows up later."

"Wow. I guess they finally got the stupid message, huh. And all it cost was us nearly dying." The memories made him shuffle a foot and stare at the floor. "How's Summer doing?"

"Fine." Winter busied herself with the hamburger meat, but her brow furrowed hard. "It's not the first time we've had to kill to protect ourselves or someone we like. I doubt it'll be the last."

"Oh." He stared at her for a long time. Eventually, she stared right back. "I understand, man. I do. It's just, you know, we've never run into it before." He went back to awkward feet shuffling. "It sucks."

There was no disagreeing with that one. "It truly does."

"Hey hey hey!" Mabel danced into the room and slammed right into the sullen atmosphere. "What the heck. This feels like bad news."

"Nah, just a serious chat." Dipper looked down at his noisy stomach. "Man, I am  _hungry_ _._ " He smiled up as Summer arrived, but a knock drew everyone's attention.

"Hmm. I'll get it," the red-eyed woman advised, almost skating along as she did. Upon opening it, however, she was greeted with the sight of Pacifica Northwest, anxious and jittery. "Oh, hello. What brings you here?"

"Huh?" The blonde regarded Summer for a second and blinked. "Oh, yeah. Hey." Then out came her gaudy pink iPhone, and she fired off a text. "Okay. Can I come in?" she asked, sniffing the air. "Because whatever that is smells awesome and I haven't eaten yet."

"Um... sure." An uncertain Summer let her through and followed to the kitchen. "Why are you here, again?"

"Why is who-" Mabel froze upon seeing her mortal enemy. " _You_." She glared bloody murder at the blonde – but Pacifica wouldn't engage. It was a stunning reaction. "Huh?"

But she did manage a flippant toss of her ponytail. "Ugh, I didn't know you nerds would be here. Glad she seems to be a good cook, otherwise you'd be stinking up the neighborhood. Hey, Winter."

"Hello." She was just as confused as her sister. "What are you doing here?"

Pacifica twirled her hair and avoided all possible eye contact. "Um, my dad's on his way. He just sent me ahead to check if you were awake yet."

Dipper and Mabel had never seen her like this before. "Oooooookay... why's your dad coming over?" he asked.

The blonde looked down her nose at him and tried a sneer. It came off hollow, as did her words. "Please, like you'd understand what rich people talk to each other about."

"You're really off your insult game today, sister," Mabel said, walking closer. "What the heck is going on here?"

"Pacifica? Run along." This was a male voice from the living room, stately and slightly gruff. "The car's outside waiting for you." Everyone but Winter emerged from the kitchen to find Preston Northwest standing there, clad in a black three-piece suit with a gold tie. "Ah, there you are." He regarded Summer with a professional smile, but blinked down at Mabel and Dipper. "I wasn't aware you had... company."

"Dad, I want to stay for breakfast," the blonde said, pouting with arms crossed.

"Now, now, you've had enough for one day, don't you think?"

"Let her stay if she wants," Summer said. "What brings  _you_  here? Do you want a reading session too?"

He cleared his throat and frowned at the children again – including his own. "Ah, no. Regardless, this isn't a matter for little ears, I'm afraid. Go on."None of the children would yield. "Pacifica..."

"You dragged me out of bed at six AM and..." Her voice caught. To the Pines, it seemed she was on the verge of tears. "All I want to do is get something to eat. Humor me, dad."

He squinted at her briefly and sighed. "Oh, if you insist," he relented. While she went into the kitchen, Dipper and Mabel continued to stand their ground. "I'm fairly certain you count too. Shoo. Be gone. Leave us. Don't make me use my poor people repellent."

"Dude, no wonder everyone hates you guys," Dipper said, rolling his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Come on, Mabel, let's help Winter with the food."

When they were gone, Preston regarded Summer with a far more serious eye. "Miss Weiss, I'm here on behalf of the United States Government. Shall we have a chat?"

"Oh. Yes, just a moment." She looked through the kitchen door and motioned for Winter to come out. "Sister..."

After seeing to the kids, she was there. "Yes?" A glance between Summer and their guest made her frown. "Oh, hello. Wait." She made a suspicious face at him. "They sent you, didn't they?"

"You're correct." They had a seat on the sofa, Preston on one end and the twins on the other. "The Northwests have worked with officials in Salem and Washington for quite a long time, and given our history with the town, I am eminently qualified to serve as a mediator. Besides, you seem to have a pleasant acquaintance with my wife and my daughter. I think the choice was obvious."

The twins thought about it for a moment, then shared a nod. "Very well. Let's get on with it," Winter said. "Have they considered our demands?"

"Washington is ready to back off, given your-" he hesitated, seeing Mabel peek around the door. She blinked and quickly disappeared. "-special circumstances. Upon safe receipt of the personnel in question, all monitoring and other activities will cease. Further, the government is willing to-" He stopped again; now it was Dipper spying on them.

"Oh, just a moment." Summer lifted a hand and magically shut the kitchen door, smiling a little at the Pines' protests. "There we go, continue."

A startled Preston had to collect himself. "No wonder the Pentagon and USIC are in such a tizzy," he muttered with amazement. "Ahem. Given your apparent extraterrestrial status, the government is willing to construct a background for you to prevent any unwanted attention while you go about your daily affairs."

"Hmm, how nice of them. What about the Pines and Soos, and Wendy Corduroy too? It won't do your side any good to go after our friends and make us angry. Again."

He nodded once. "The witnesses have made that clear enough. It will take some extra time, but the NSA is willing to let their communications go as well. Fort Meade will provide phone and computer hardware that circumvents PRISM, Fairview and XKEYSCORE monitoring protocols – although I was asked to inquire about a phone call from this location early yesterday, which was already 'encrypted via unknown method'. Care to elaborate?"

Summer's eyes lit up with glee, but she kept quiet at her sister's behest. "We brought our own phones from home," Winter said. "If you don't mind, we'll keep using them. We'll try your computers, though. How long after our exchange can we expect you to hold up your end of the deal?"

"Not more than 48 hours. Before we get there, however, I need to go back with some proof the prisoners are alive and well, especially the high-value operative. You know who I mean."

Winter tapped her sneaker in thought. "That will be easy. But not here, and not now. I want to eat first, and I don't think the kids appreciate being locked up."

"Of course." He rose with a smile and looked at the door. "I must admit, I'm a bit peckish myself. Your cooking smells divine."

Beyond that door Mabel and Dipper had their ears to the wall, straining to hear the conversation. When footsteps became audible, they retreated back to the table. Pacifica was already there and eating slowly. "Special circumstances? What special circumstances?" Dipper wondered out loud.

"The fact that they're..." Mabel looked at the blonde, hesitated a moment, and decided to go vague just to be safe. "Special, I guess? I dunno."

"Yeah." He looked at Pacifica as well. "Normally I wouldn't care, but... are you all right? Your hands are shaking."

She fired a weak glare in reply. "Of course they're shaking, I'm trapped in a room with you two. Anyone would be twitchy."

But her vitriol still lacked punch. As the Pines dug in, and the twins arrived with Preston, Mabel realized this wasn't the first time she'd seen someone act like this. She put down her taco and thought a moment. Then it hit her: Wendy, post-journal. Both she and the blonde looked like they'd seen every ghost in the world at once. Her eyes went to Pacifica again and stayed there, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Stop looking at me!"

"If you two want to fight, do it outside," Winter warned – though she noticed the oddness in Mabel's eyes as well. "Or at least wait until after we're done eating."

"Yeah, yeah," she relented, grabbing her food again. Dipper's confused glance made her shrug. "What, bro? I was just thinking about something. I can think."

He smirked at her around a mouthful of taco salad. "Think about what? Unicorns? Made of rainbows?"

"No!" Her face dropped. "That's a neat idea though. I'ma draw some later."

Pacifica was ready with a stronger barb this time around. "I've seen your chicken scratch. You call that artwork?"

"Now now, they have to entertain themselves in some way," her father said. "It's not like they can jet off to Corsica on a whim like us." His nod also indicated the identical twins. "You should make the trip if you can. Lovely place. I've invested in a hotel there."

"How nice," Summer replied politely. "Perhaps you can tell us more after we conclude our, um, business."

"Certainly." He glanced over at his daughter and frowned. "I suppose I'd better see Pacifica home after breakfast first. She's not had an easy morning."

"Yeah," she agreed with a sigh. "That's  _one_  way of putting it." Everyone else at the table regarded her with varying levels of confusion. "You wouldn't understand."

"Of course not, we're poor people," Dipper said, rolling his eyes. "Look, man, we know why you're here. Is this the first step to us going home or what?"

While Pacifica looked up with surprise, her father was a bit stung by his candor. "It depends on these two. If they play ball, yes. If not..." His daughter left the table and walked out of the kitchen abruptly, forcing a brief pause. "Ahem. If not, I don't know what happens next."

"Trust us Mr. Northwest, we'll play ball," Winter said, leaning forward. "I suggest your side does the same."


	22. Children of the Stars

Gravity Falls Forest at midnight was a mausoleum with a diamond ceiling, breathtaking in its silence. Winter and Summer found themselves in one of the area's few large clearings, a circular space surrounded by mighty aspens as far as the eye could see – which wasn't far, given the new moon. They were not alone; all of their captives were in a neat group behind them, arranged in rows and held fast by their magic.

"I guess we're early," Summer said, crossing her arms and glancing around. "Unless this is a trap."

Winter squinted into the infinite black with a frown. "If it is, they'd better be prepared to kill me. My patience is exhausted."

Summer allowed a huge grin to split her face. "Ha! I don't think they could fit enough troops through these trees to pull that off. You don't suppose they'd make an attempt on Dipper and Mabel while we're gone, do you?"

She drew her smartphone and stared at it for a moment. "Now that they can call us for help? It would be a very bad idea. I don't think they want to see how angry two dead friends would make us."

"Hmm, yes. It's nice to have these old things working again." Her smile faded away in the face of a completely alien noise. The closest analogy she had was someone pulling taut and relaxing a strip of burlap over and over rapidly, but it soon became quite loud. "What is that?"

Lights in the sky appeared, attached to two aircraft – a pair of V-22 Ospreys flying at barely above treetop level. They landed on the other side of the clearing, forcing the twins to use their arms to shield themselves against the mighty rotor wash. They didn't even bother trying to speak until the shrieking engines had been silenced. "Well, now I have a headache," Winter complained, rubbing her brow.

As Summer giggled, people emerged from the rear of the aircraft. Most of these were conventional soldiers bearing M16s with mounted lights, but two people seemed to be unarmed. One was a woman clad in black gear, who walked alongside a middle-aged, dark-skinned woman with had a particularly commanding air. Winter recognized the former as Jane. "You there," the other called, moving closer and shining a flashlight. "Which one of you is which again?"

"I am Winter," she stated, barely squinting against the glow. "I assume you're in charge?"

"You bet. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Greer. Spooks say this is a first contact situation, so welcome to our planet. If you're spearheading an invasion force, well, get ready to have your asses kicked by the United States Army. Quite a crowd you got there."

Winter managed a smirk at the bravado. "Let's not find out." She sized up the contingent – and the contingent did the same with her. "And yes, I suppose it is. Who do you want first?"

The Colonel checked with Jane, who whispered into her ear. "She's on our list as Briathos. Got lost in the woods yesterday."

"Very well." Winter looked over her shoulder at the woman and magically brought her forward, which caused a minor stir amongst Greer's troops. "Here you are, as promised."

The Colonel nodded to two people, who ran over to check on her. The process took a couple of minutes. "Medics, what do we have?"

"She looks fine, ma'am," one of them replied.

"I'm just a little out of it," she said, shivering with the tingles. A look over her shoulder at Summer made her blood freeze. "Oh man, get her away from me..."

"You're fine, trooper. Get her on the bird." Greer patted her on the shoulder as she was helped past. "All right, we can deal with each other. Good. I'd call it a night if NSA weren't so far up my rear end. Specialist, start triage on the others."

"Hold on, Colonel," Jane said, stepping forward. Her gaze was pinned to the blue-eyed woman. "I want to see to my team first."

The twins floated backward, all the way behind their captives, to let her search. She rapidly picked out about thirteen from the cluster and brought them back for the medics to examine. Amongst them was Charlie, who smiled at his would-be victims and waved as he was taken away. "Hey, no hard feelings about me shooting you guys, right?"

"Didn't work too well, did it," Jane said with a weird smile. "I think you're off the hook, though. We didn't plan for something like this."

"Terrific, at least I won't get fired."

After a few minutes of organizing and examining, the rest of the freed operatives boarded the Ospreys to depart. Greer nodded with approval and addressed the twins. "All right, looks like we're done here. Preston what's-his-name will contact you in the morning with what happens next. Pleasure doing business with you."

"Goodbye!" Summer chirped with a smile. "Tell your friends the next time they want to deal with us, maybe they should try talking first. As you can see, it works a lot better."

"Ha! Don't know if you have this saying on your planet, but when all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Same goes for these high-priced pretend cowboys and their fancy guns." Greer chuckled and adjusted her beret. "Let's ride, gentlemen! I want to be done with this circus by sunrise."

They waved a goodbye and stood there, watching the tilt-rotors fire up, slowly lift off, and trundle away into the glittering night. As their noise faded, Summer looked over at her sister with a tiny smile. "I guess it's over."

Winter didn't meet her eyes, instead looking in the direction of the fading sound. "You actually believe that?"

"Not a chance in hell. Although I feel like we've lost most of our leverage."

"Our leverage is requiring too high a cost to kill. Unless they intend to launch an ICBM at Gravity Falls, I don't know how they can touch us." She turned on her heel and began to float away. "That soldier had a magical signature as an object, but not as a human. I want to know why."

"Agreed," Summer said with a nod, hovering along after her. "Do you think it's the same thing that usually hides us?"

"I doubt that very much." She gazed at her right palm with steely eyes, though they softened after a while. "That raises another question: how did Wilhelm detect our power?"

"Maybe it was exposure to the portal. I wonder what would happen if we were exposed to it."

"I think we're twisted enough." Winter slowed to a stop and looked up through the trees. "And what about Bill Cipher? Stan seems to think he came from the portal. Maybe we need to talk to him."

"Sister, I don't know if I want to get that close to a creature that can invade your mind." Summer rubbed the back of her neck, listening briefly to the incessant background whispers in her consciousness. "And everyone else up here agrees with me."

Winter nodded, tapping the side of her head with a finger. "No argument in here either. I definitely want Dipper and Mabel along if we're forced to have a chat with that thing."

* * *

Sunrise bathed the house in a golden glow as usual, though nothing else was quite the same. Dipper noticed a door once again stood at the end of the hall as he went to the bathroom, and as he came back to their bedroom for his hat, the window panes weren't distorting the morning light like they had before. He poked one quietly, blinking at how thin it was. It seemed like normal had returned – but for him, some anxiety still remained. As Mabel snored he moved straight toward the living room, only to find no one in it. Somehow, this didn't strike him as necessarily _bad_ , but he still searched for the older twins anyway. He found them shortly afterward, asleep in the only other bedroom that had a bed. "Oh," he whispered, gently shutting the door and shuffling away. "They're..." A thought stopped him in his tracks. "I guess it went well."

His mind went blank until he fell on the couch. The ordeal certainly felt over; for that reason, he wanted desperately to smile. The expression eluded him furiously, leaving him so anxious he stood up and started to pace. "We're done. It's all good. No more insanity." Lies, he realized, every single word. Feeling lightheaded, he sat down heavily and stared into space. Stan's admissions from yesterday hung around his neck like an anchor. "What am I?" he asked himself, rubbing the birthmark on his forehead. "Are we—I mean, is Mabel...oh, man." His mind drifted to Wendy – and drew another scowl. "I wonder how she's doing. And Soos. And..."

Stan was meant to be the last name on that list, but his name wouldn't come out. Dipper could go home now, but going home meant living with that glowing metallic monster. And if it leaked magic, magic that _changed_ people like it apparently had Manly Dan, why on Earth would Stan turn the thing back on? Now he was angry, but only for an instant. This answer he already had. "Oh, yeah. His brother."

"Whose brother?"

Dipper gasped, turning around so fast he nearly dropped off the couch. Mabel grinned at him, patting down her disastrous hair. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, bro." Still grinning, she sat beside him and gave him a hug. "I saw other doors! Must be good news, right? Where the big girls at?"

"In their room asleep." A few deep breaths helped calm his heart. "And, uh, I was just thinking out loud about Grunkle Stan and his twin."

"Oh yeah!" Mabel struggled a moment to remember his name. "Stanley, right? Geez, our family tree must be full of twins. Hey, you think we're related to any triplets? Oh my gosh." Her eyes grew wide. "Could you imagine three of me?"

"The world wouldn't be safe," he joked, thankful for her levity. "Hey, if I got sucked into a magic portal that could do bad things to everyone if you turned it on to look for me, would you still turn it on and look for me?"

Her smile was still as broad as ever, but something was off with her eyes. They were determined – almost steely. "You bet your butt I would, and I know you'd do the same thing."

"Yep. No wonder he re-activated it." Dipper slumped over and sighed. "How would we know if we were, you know... oh, what's a good way to say it... magicked? Ensorcelled?"

"Ensorcelled! Holy cow, that is officially my new favorite word." She crossed her arms, pouting in thought. "I have no idea. Maybe we could ask them?" She nodded down the hall. "Besides, they're hiding something from us. What does 'special circumstances' mean? I got questions, man."

He frowned, also looking that way. "Mabel, I have a bad feeling that everyone in this whole town is hiding something from somebody, but yeah. You've got a point."

"We all have secrets, bro. Then again I don't think they're all portal-level. At least I hope not, because if they are, oh boy we're gonna die." She patted her chest a few times while grumbling. "Oooo, bad word choice."

"You all right?" Her nod didn't reassure him much. Before he could ask again, another conversation reached his ears. "Hey, looks like they're awake."

And suddenly one of them raised their voice a little. "Fine, you may shower first, sleepyhead. Why are you even awake so early?"

Mabel snickered at Winter's statement. "I wanna say that sounds like us, but you never take a bath."

"Ha ha, very funny." He put on a less sarcastic smile as the blue-eyed woman approached, though the fact she was still wearing the same turquoise tank top and blue jeans from when she'd left last night made him a little confused. "Hey! Nice jammies. Did you just pass out when you got back?"

She'd slept in her clothes because she _always_ slept in her clothes. For her, an hour's worth of unconsciousness a day didn't merit putting on a special outfit. His reason was less suspicious, though, so she ran with it. "More or less. I was still expecting an ambush, so I decided to stay dressed."

Dipper swallowed a little. "Right, right, I gotcha. How did everything go?"

"Just fine. Preston is going to drop by again later, but I see no reason you can't go back to the Shack right now." Mabel cheered with glee, but Dipper's rather muted reaction made her cock a brow. "Do you know something I don't?"

He tried to shake it off, but his frown said everything. "Nah, nah, I'm just... I'm worried about portal exposure is all. I wanna talk to Grunkle Stan first."

Mabel pursed her lips at his reluctance. "Usually I'd say 'you worry about everything' and poke you, but I kinda agree. Let's get the old man over here and grill him some more."

Winter's eyes narrowed a touch as she looked toward the window. "Mm. That makes four of us who wish for an audience with Mister Mystery."

"Ooo! Lemme call him!" Mabel slipped off the couch and darted down the hallway. She returned with her new phone – which was already covered in stickers – and dialed his number as she walked. "Come on, answer, answer—oh! Grunkle Stan! Guess what. I'm serious, guess. Wh—what?" Her face abruptly screwed up. "No, we didn't turn into waffles. You had a dream about it? Well, uh, maybe you need professional help with your breakfast food obsession."

"Weird dreams? He didn't see Bill, did he?" Dipper asked worriedly.

"I'll ask. Did you see the triangle guy or anything? No? Oh, you ate that pizza in the fridge. Man, that pizza's like a month old. No wonder you dreamed about waffle-human abominations." Her body went slack. "Dang. Now I want some waffles." She literally had to shake herself back into the conversation. "No, we get to come back! Winter and Summer solved all our problems. When can you pick us up?" While he talked, she silently bounced from foot to foot in a little dance. "You want them to bring us over?" she repeated, looking toward Winter for guidance.

"That's fine with me," she said.

Mabel beamed like the sun. "Okay, you asked for it, you got it. We gotta get packed! See you soon!" Dipper's unhappy groan as she hung up made her smile fade. "What?"

"You should have asked him about the portal!" he said, motioning wildly. "I don't want to get there, go to sleep, and wake up as a deer or something!"

She put one hand on her hip and frowned. "Dude, I don't think that's something you talk about over the phone. Haven't you learned your lesson?"

"Th—you know, you're right. I really should know better by now."

"I don't think they could have heard it, but better safe than sorry," Winter added, cracking her neck as she walked back toward the bedrooms. "At any rate, I'm ready to go when you are."

* * *

Little cheerful puffs of cotton dotted the blue sky as Summer guided the BMW to a stop in the Mystery Shack's parking lot. As the kids fished their luggage out of the trunk, Wendy emerged with an immense smile on her face. "Dudes! What's up? Is it really over?" she asked, jogging off the porch to meet them.

"Summer finally got through to them, it seems," Winter replied, shutting the trunk.

Her tone didn't sit well. Nor did the distance in her sister's ruby eyes. "Oh. What's, uh, what's that mean?" Wendy asked, tilting her head.

"Don't ask!" the Pines yelled in unison. "Aha, sorry. It's totally fine. Tooootally cool. Don't even worry about it," Dipper added hastily, making a show of struggling with his bags as he led Mabel toward the house. "I'm kinda surprised you're here after what Stan told us."

She fell in with the quartet and shrugged. "Oh, yeah. I guess I am too, a little. It... it just felt weirder skipping work than showing up. Stan's even got a tour group in right now. Soos is... I dunno what Soos is up to, actually. All Stan told me was to make sure nothing caught on fire."

"I'm sure he's fine," Mabel said with a faint smirk. They were all in the gift shop now, basking in the uselessness of the junk for sale. "Smells like mold, extortion, and sadness. It's _so_ good to be back!" She threw down her bags as Waddles ran through the open living room door. "Baby! Get over here and get your belly rubbed!"

Dipper managed a genuine smile as she ran out of sight with her pig, totally forgetting her luggage. He intercepted Wendy as she tried to gather it. "Nah, nah, I'll get it later. It's fine. How far into the museum is Grunk-"

He emerged through the red curtain counting a considerable wad of cash. "Heh. I still got it."

Wendy blinked at him. "Dude, it's been like 72 hours. When would you have had a chance to lose it?"

"Listen, just slack off over there and let me feel good for a minute." He stared at his great nephew for what felt like an hour. "Welcome back, kid. I may or may not have really missed you and your sister. You can't prove anything either way."

Summer noted the relative silence of the air; only the usual cloud of magical sparkles that was Gravity Falls registered with her sixth sense. "The portal is off?"

"Yeah." As his herd of suckers arrived, Stan adjusted his eye patch and smiled his way back into con-man mode. "Later. Right this way, walking bags of mone—I mean esteemed tourists. Esteemed tourists is totally what I just said. Partake of my exotic wares! Ignore the glue. Unless you like glue, in which case I've got some antique _Egyptian_ glue to sell ya! Probably made from the ground-up glittering shells of scarabs or something I'm not really sure."

Instead of watching and listening to the "master" at work, Dipper motioned for the identical twins to follow him into the living room. Winter brought Mabel's luggage along. "Ugh. My nose is full of dust that's probably been here forty years. Your house is way too clean. _Way_ too clean," he emphasized, in a not-so-gentle attempt to pry up some information.

Summer shot him down – unknowingly or not – with a smile. "I guess that's what we get for being nomads most of our lives." They settled in to wait out the crowd. Dipper fell into the old recliner, while the twins sat at the round table in the stony corner. Mabel's chipper voice was just audible from upstairs.

The next few minutes passed in almost unbroken silence until Soos arrived from the side entryway. "Hey, dudes!" he greeted with a wave. A half-finished sign was in his other hand. "'Sup? Didn't even know you'd gotten back yet."

Dipper smiled broadly. "Hey, man! What's that?" he asked, indicating the signage.

"New warning about the pit," Stan explained as he slipped into the living room. "Wendy can handle the dopes while I, uh, say thanks for everything." He doffed his fez and looked at the twins around the table. "I didn't think you'd really risk your lives for the kids – for us. I don't know what to say."

His nephew nodded as well. "Yeah, thanks. Even though 'thanks' doesn't really seem to cut it."

"No thanks are necessary," Winter said, looking off into space. "However, I think it's time we all get on the same page about what's going on around here."

Dipper jumped on that line of reasoning right away. "Question one: is being near the portal when you've got it running going to hurt us? I _really_ need to know."

"Not in scan mode, no. I only turned it all the way on a few nights back when I was makin' sure the activation sequence in the journals was right." Stan smiled at his sigh of relief. "I wouldn't let people around here if I thought it would hurt somebody, especially not you two."

Summer politely raised her hand. "We want to know more about Bill Cipher. Sister says you mentioned that he came from the portal."

"He came from where?!" Dipper jumped to his feet, eyes bulging. "Grunkle Stan, what the heck?!"

The old man took this opportunity to steal the recliner. "Look, that portal is just like any door. Stuff goes in, stuff comes out. I'm basically certain Bill is related to whatever is on the other side. That's another reason I'm not too keen on opening the thing all the way for longer than a few seconds at a time, in case he's got weird little friends."

"The magic in the pit came from the portal too," Winter advised him. "We promised it we would try to get it home."

Stan gave her a confused stare. "The magic in the – there's magic in that thing?"

She nodded. "Yes, it's why the pit seems bottomless. Whenever it detects someone falling, it pushes them up to help them escape."

"Wait, why is it just in a clump at the bottom? All the stuff I know about magic leads me to believe it wants a vessel to occupy."

"Sometimes it can be afraid," Summer murmured solemnly, remembering the hospital incident. "Different clusters of magic can be just as unique as people."

Stan fiddled with his glasses in thought. "I get the feeling you two know a lot more about it than I do."

"Whoa whoa hold on." Dipper was thinking too – and about something unnerving, based on his expression. "If the magic came from the portal, and that's what changed all the stuff around Gravity Falls, and you guys can detect it..." he trailed off, staring at the twins. "You were born with this power, right? But _where_ were you born, exactly?"

"Iowa," Soos chimed in helpfully. His assistance fell flat. "Wait, no? That's what they told me. You guys weren't like, lying or anything?"

"You're from beyond the portal, aren't you."

All eyes went to Mabel, standing in the entryway door with Waddles at her right ankle. Her gaze was a strange mixture of acceptance and disbelief. "No wonder nothing in this town rattles you. You're already used to it."

"Is that true?" Stan asked, far more stunned than she as he looked over. "'Cause I'm pretty sure if you came outta that thing someone would have written it down. And also you'd be old. Uh... don't hit me."

Summer and Winter shared a long, quiet look. "They have a right to know," the former muttered to her sister. "Considering all they've been through. I don't see why we should hide it any longer." A nod granted her permission to clarify further. "We're not from Earth, no. Nor is the power we detect. However, we didn't get here through the device underground."

Mabel's eye twitched briefly. "Th-then how did you..."

"We're not going to tell you because it's irrelevant," Winter stated flatly, but gently. "What matters is how the government managed to connect your world to ours, and the effects it's having on Gravity Falls."

"Which might not be limited to Gravity Falls for much longer," Summer added gravely. "Your planet's physical makeup and our planet's latent magical energy don't play well together. If magic alone can alter matter here, on its own whims, it may eventually swallow your entire world."

Shock marred their silent faces until Dipper threw up his hands and walked out. "I'm done!" he said. "I am done. I am so done, all the way done, the most done. Done!"

"Dipper?" Mabel said worriedly, giving chase. "Dipper, wait! Come back!"

Stan sighed in agreement with his sentiment. "Yeah, what he said. I got aliens running around now. And thanks for dropping the apocalypse in my lap, by the way."

"Duuuuuuuude, I am so writing a blog post about this when I get home." Soos drew back under their withering stares. "Bad idea? Okay, okay, maybe just a diary entry instead."

"I'm stealing your computer before you get us all killed," Stan muttered, before turning back to the twins. "Okay, if the magic's dangerous, can you stop it? Could we? Any ideas?"

Winter nodded curtly, her eyes vacant. "Yes, we might have a solution." And then her phone rang. "Excuse me. Hello?" For a while, the conversation was one sided. "Two PM is fine. We're out now, but we'll be home by then." The more she listened, the softer her features became. "That's acceptable to me, yes, but I'll have to ask my sister and the others for their opinions." Surprise quickly filled her eyes a moment later. "What additional offer?"

Summer cocked her head inquisitively. "Sister?"

The blue-eyed woman lifted a hand to quiet her. "Very well, we'll consider it." With that, she hung up. "You might find this ironic, Stan."

"Eh, what's that?"

Winter put her phone away and frowned. "The Department of Defense just had the same question you did. They want to know if we know of any way to 'decontaminate' Gravity Falls."


	23. The Triangle of Your Dreams

Nobody had the courage to approach Dipper for the next several hours – nobody except Mabel, of course. He'd been holed up in bed all day, curled into a ball and with his back to her side of the room, but she dutifully stayed with him, knitting the time away. The rhythmic clacking of her needles brought him close to sleep several times, but his mind was too full to let him relax. Frowning, he rolled over to face her.

"About time," she said with a smile, glancing over. "You done moping?"

"I'm not... I'm not moping."

Her face became gloomy. "I know you're not. You're freaking out and bottling it up and you _know_ I hate it when you do that." She dropped her needles and stared at him. "Talk to me. Please? Say something. You wanna yell? You love yelling! I won't even laugh at your voice, I promise."

"I don't really feel like yelling," he replied, sitting up and crossing his legs. "I feel like hiding in a hole forever. Our great uncle's great uncle helped build a machine that's gonna end the world."

Her face screwed up; she had to give him that one. "Well, uh, yeah. Looks kinda bad. But who says we have to sit here and let it happen?" He didn't acknowledge her extra-encouraging, extra-wide smile. "Come on, man, you beat a giant robot and I'm the best at everything! We got this, bro."

Dipper looked over, face dark with worry. "Yeah, but Gideon didn't experiment on people against their will. Also, I don't think anyone in his family's built a magical doomsday device that could destroy the Earth."

"Okay fine, I'll go along with the last one, but... are you _sure_ he hasn't done anything like that? Let's not underestimate his creep factor." She shuddered a little for added effect, but wore a little smirk the whole time.

"Are you serious?" Dipper snapped, standing up. "Mabel, people died! We almost died! And now a whole lot more people _could_ die! This is—it's too big for us! How can you sit there and make fun of it?!"

The undertones of her jovial facade became strained, but she refused to let her toothy smile crack. That didn't stop her from getting a little teary. "What are you yellin' at me for?" she asked. It was meant to sound teasing, but some of her own internal turmoil leaked out with the question.

Dipper ducked his head in shame – mostly because of her tone. He assumed his frustration had once again found the wrong target. "I'm not—I mean, I didn't mean to yell. I'm not feeling too great right now. Sounds like you're not either."

Relief bolstered Mabel's smile and dried her eyes; she'd finally cracked his shell. The rest would be easy. "Come on," she urged, patting the edge of her bed. "Sit. Talk to me. Waddles doesn't mind, do you?" His inquisitive oink made her snort. "I guess that's a yes. Or a no. Uh... whichever answer I wanted. English is stupid."

He took her up on it and plopped down on the mattress. "They all lied to us. Forget Grunkle Stan for a minute because I don't even know where to start with him, but Winter and Summer are freaking _aliens_ and they hid that! Why?" he asked, becoming more unhappy with each word he spoke.

Mabel scratched her head in thought. "I dunno, maybe 'cause if _everyone_ knew they'd freak out? Like you did, mister 'I'm done'?" she said after giving him a gentle poke in the side.

"That's not why I did it, I did it because this whole thing just got... you know," he said, stopping short of repeating himself again. "So much more is at stake!" It welled up inside him once more, a fetid wave of bitter terror. He punched it back with a few deep breaths. "I'm just saying if they'd told us right out, 'hey, we're aliens, keep it to yourself', I'd have been totally okay with it. There was no need to hide anything."

Suddenly it was Mabel who looked vulnerable, lightly hugging her knees. "Sometimes it's super hard to tell the truth, bro."

"Huh?" He looked over at her and blinked. "I think it's your turn to share."

She stared at the floor, knee-hug getting just a little tighter. "Ain't got nothin' to share. I'm just saying lies are easy and the truth... isn't."

"Right, okay. Lies are easy – like right now, to me, I guess."

Dipper's tone was cotton, but it still felt like a blade to her heart. "I set myself up for that one, huh?" She inhaled some courage and met his eyes with her own. "Dipper, why would somebody I've never met try to kill me? Why would they try to kill _you_?"

His initial answer was awkward silence. Waddles nudged his way between the twins and oinked at each in turn as if asking them what was wrong. "Now you know how I feel," he finally admitted, staring at his socks.

"Oh come on. Like I haven't felt the same way!" she fired back with a glare.

"Well, you're always over there smirking and dancing and putting stickers on your face."

For an instant Mabel was gone, replaced by something that looked and felt a lot like Dipper with braces and rosier cheeks. Just as quick, though, that almost-invincible grin was back. "Duh, because if I weren't I'd be acting like you. One of us has to put on a happy face, otherwise we're gonna go nuts!"

"I..." Dipper fell silent and found he had no retort, only a vague sense of gratitude. "Never change, Mabel. Never change."

She flashed a cocky smirk. "Why would I change perfection, dork? Now what are we gonna do about this, huh? You're the smart one, start braining or whatever!"

"Bleh," he grumbled, falling back on the bed. He stared at the ceiling in thought while a surprisingly patient Mabel swung her legs and cuddled her pig. Abruptly, he sat up. "Wait. We control the portal."

"Oh, yeah. I guess we do." She looked away for a moment. "I mean, kinda sorta."

Overcome with relief, he clapped his hands once and stood up to pace around. "All we have to do is tell him not to turn it on! That stops the problem from getting worse!"

"So we're gonna go say 'hey, you can't look for your brother 'cause it'll destroy us, sorry'?"

"Ye-" The weight of such a request froze him. "Crap. I didn't think of it like that. And even if he agreed, what about the magic that's still in Gravity Falls? How do we deal with what's already come out?" He drifted over and fell on his own bed to think some more. "I shouldn't have left. We really needed to talk to Winter and Summer."

"You forgetting something?"

He looked over quizzically as Mabel pointed to the table between their beds where their new phones were charging. "Oh yeah, duh," he said, smiling as he got up to get his. "I'll just... is a text appropriate in this situation? I'm not sure what apocalypse planning etiquette is."

She stopped him with a frantic wave of her hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're _that_ sure nobody's spyin' on us? I mean they said they would stop and all but they also tried to murder us. Not a lot of trust going on here."

After a moment of thought, he decided her worries were still valid and sighed. "Yeah, fair point. I'll send them something vague just in case."

Knocking at their door, light and erratic, prevented him from sending anything at all. "Come in!" Mabel chirped happily. "Dipper's stopped being super paranoid, it's safe! Come on!"

"I wasn't paranoid," he said lowly as the door opened. "All right, maybe I was. A little." Mabel's giggling was cut off by registering the new arrival: Pacifica. "Wait, what the heck are you doing here?"

As they stood up and approached, she shut the door, eyes darting about suspiciously. "Look, we need to talk."

"About _what_?" Mabel asked harshly, putting herself between the blonde and her brother. "Girl, you're not gonna come into my house and talk ish about us-" She fell silent – Pacifica was doing it _again_ , acting almost timid, eyes glued to the floor even though she had a hand on her hip. "Uh. You're doing that thing you did earlier and it's making my hate feel weird."

While shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, she screwed up the courage to regard the Pines and put on a gloomy mask. "Yeah. There's something I, uh..." And then she was hit with a shot of Northwest pride. "Just sit down and listen," she said firmly, pointing toward the nearest bed, "And don't laugh at me."

* * *

Late afternoon found the identical twins in the woods once more, and once more were there soldiers nearby. This time their number was smaller – a half-dozen at most – and they weren't keeping their eye on the sisters at all. Lieutenant Colonel Greer, accompanied by Preston Northwest, was using them as perimeter guards while Winter and Summer put on an impromptu demonstration of sorts. Their stage was a large oval clearing, though not the same one they'd used earlier for the release of their prisoners.

"Here's a rock," Summer said, launching a sizable piece of feldspar into her grasp with magic. She turned it over a few times to prove it was mundane. "Just a rock. But..." With a light grunt, she tossed it into the air and snapped with her other hand. The stone twisted into a majestic eagle of an unfamiliar species, mostly black with a brilliant purple crest of feathers. The creature beat its wings and fluttered down to land on her shoulder. "This is a bird from our home. I forget the name... sister? You know these things better than I do, what is this again?"

"A Midlight Eagle. I saw one in the museum of natural history while you were busy with our parents." Winter shook off the displeasure of that memory and snapped, crushing the bird into a rose whose petals were each a different color. "As you may guess," she added, bringing the flower over, letting it float before her nose, and taking a sniff of the scent, "our ability isn't exactly common."

"You can turn anything into anything?" Greer asked, barely able to overcome the awe. "But—but how?"

Summer retrieved her prop, inflating it into a white hot-air balloon with blue and red vertical stripes. The basket and propane burner were included. "Oh, with enough help you can do lots of things," she murmured with a grin, firing the burner a few times before flattening the whole contraption back into its original rock form and throwing it away. "I'm surprised you believed what you heard about us this time."

"Well, when you get twenty-odd people saying the same thing in debriefing, what other choice did we have?" Greer replied, staring at the rock. Beside her, Preston's visage lacked the same amount of gobsmacked terror. "Why'd they ask me to be the Army liaison with you guys? No offense, of course, it's just that I've read the whole first contact protocol and it didn't come _close_ to preparing me for this."

Winter nodded politely. "We understand that the concept might be a little overwhelming, although Mister Northwest apparently doesn't seem to think so." Now all three women were looking at him.

"Ah, don't think me disinterested," he said, hands raised slightly. "I'm just observing the potential death of mass production as we know it and it is rather fascinating. Let's try to keep this one under wraps so I might avoid being driven into the poorhouse."

"Another secret for the pile, I suppose." Winter shared a glance with her sister before continuing. "So, what did you mean by decontamination?"

He straightened his tie and took a few steps to the side. "Those details I don't have for you. They're contingent on you agreeing first."

Summer's eyes narrowed. "Oh my. First you try to kill us, now you want our help with something? This is rich," she said lowly, squirming with displeasure.

"Yeaaaaaah," Greer admitted with a frown. She looked into the forest. "Based on what I know, you two might be our best and only chance at, er, fixing our _problem_. And before you ask, that's all the detail you'll get for now."

"Give us some indication you held up your side of the deal and we will consider it," Winter said curtly, arms crossed. "Until then, we are neutral to your plight at best."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Greer scratched at her beret and started walking. "But the Admiral won't be pleased. I'll see what I can do about getting confirmation from NSA, but it may take me a day. I guess Mister Northwest will relay any requests or concerns to us until then, and probably afterward if we can help it."

"Oh, I'd be quite willing to serve as an ambassador for humanity given the correct reward," he confirmed, walking after her with a wry grin. "Perhaps a little help becoming the next United States Senator from Oregon?"

Greer waved angrily at him. "Buzz off. I swore to uphold and protect the Constitution, so if you want an election rigged you'll have to bitch at someone else." Her next wave was of a friendlier sort, directed at the twins. "We'll be in touch, Miss Weiss. And Miss Weiss."

The twins watched her escort break the perimeter and catch up with them for a while before meandering in the other direction. "I know what I think about this, but what about you?" Summer asked, eyes on her sister.

"Mm. I could be two for two on bringing down national governments by getting wrapped up in their little problem. I want more answers first." She smiled a bit when Summer nodded. "If anything, perhaps we've given them further incentive to keep their distance. I suspect they wouldn't want us turning their capital and everyone in it into a field of barley." A few steps later, her head was ducked. "Not like it'd be the first time for me."

Summer took her by the hand and picked up their pace. "Oh, forget that, sister. Do you think Dipper's all right?"

"I... I'm not sure, and I don't really want to bother him. Perhaps we finally managed to put too much on his plate and he needs a while to collect himself. Besides, if there were a problem Mabel would get in touch with us."

There was an image that came to Summer and caused her a fit of giggles. "I'm stunned she hasn't _already_ sent a thousand messages. I've never seen someone so pleased to have a phone."

"Perhaps she's still afraid of being watched. I would be."

That was it for any laughter, and for any talking. They defied gravity a few minutes later, choosing to move about by force of will rather than stay attached to the earth. With the pit's magic no longer wailing and the portal inactive, neither had the slightest idea where they were in the woods related to the Mystery Shack. It was the closest they could get to being lost with Gravity Falls' magical beacons still shining. Winter sniffed the humid air, checking for any sign of the odd odor she'd run into on her jaunt with Stan and Soos.

Before Summer could ask what she was up to, her phone emitted a pleasant series of chimes. "Oh. I didn't know we even got reception out here." She smiled at the number. "Well, well. She must have known we were talking about her. Oh, hmm. I shouldn't kid about people listening, I guess."

Mabel's voice leaped from the speaker just as soon as Summer tapped the screen. "Guys! Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Where are you? Are talking to any—I mean if anyone's spying you should stop because we're gonna talk about makeup and boy bands and wow that's boring so don't mind us! Ahahaha—did it work?"

"We're alone, Mabel," Winter assured her gently. "Why do you seem more wound up than usual?"

"Pacifica—blondie, get over here and tell them what you told us! That a girl, here." Some background noise came through next, as well a muffled, incredulous "I cannot believe this!" from Dipper.

"Don't boss me around! I do the bossing!" she complained, voice getting louder and clearer toward the end. "God, fine. Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, we can hear you fine," Summer replied. "And... you're at the Mystery Shack? How interesting."

"Yeah—that's not the point. He's..." Pacifica hesitated a few times, each one marked by an uncertain little noise. "I had a dream last night. There was a weird little golden triangle freak flying around in it and he talked to me about you. I mean not just you, but these nerds, your uncle, the Corduroy chick and what's-his-name with the stupid question mark shirt."

"What about us?" Winter asked, sharing a stunned look with Summer.

"He wants to meet you, but he can't figure out how." Again, she paused for a while. "I asked him why he couldn't just show up in _your_ brains and he got all defensive. Threw like, this goat at me with tentacles for eyes! And it meowed. I... I feel funny. Anyway, he wanted me to tell you directly, but I just—I couldn't handle thinking about it. Not after what dad said."

"Oh, this is the worst part," Dipper interjected.

"Move, weirdo. I told dad about my dream and he just kind of laughed it off. Said that was just how Bill worked. Is that even his name? Is he really always watching?"

"Wow, you look like you're gonna puke," Mabel pointed out nervously. "Yeah, aim that way. Throw up on him."

"Hey!"

"Leave me alone!" she yelled viciously, then her voice got low again. "Dad said you get used to Bill poking around in your mind, that most of the time you don't even know he was there. He makes you forget. What else has he made me forget? I don't wanna live here anymore."

The twins struggled to process all this new information with various degrees of surprise in their expressions. "Can't you move away?" Summer finally asked. "You have family in Seattle, right? Maybe you should stay with them."

"That's what I wanted to do. But dad said if we're born in Gravity Falls, we belong to him. I would never get away."

"Boom, there it is!" Dipper shouted. "I'm done again! Maximum done!"

"Oh, calm your Cheez-Its, bro," Mabel chided. "We beat Bill once already, it's not _that_ big of a deal."

"You _knew_ about him?!" Pacifica yelled with horror. "What, is he your buddy? Did you send him to mess with me? Huh?"

"Oops. Uh, whoa there, sister. Let's tone down the paranoia a little, okay?"

"All right, all right, everyone try to relax," Winter said with a sigh. "Stay there, we're on our way to you."

* * *

Getting there wasn't an issue – some quick high-altitude scouting on Summer's part saw to that – but when they entered the gift shop, Stan's crowd gathered around them like an exhibit, wanting photographs and autographs and all the other graphs they could get. Winter had to turn up the sternness to get everyone out of their way. They found the Pines and Pacifica in the upstairs bedroom. The blonde looked more than a little distraught. Dipper was on his bed, mumbling something under his breath while hiding his eyes. Mabel was still smiling, as ever. "Hey!" she greeted happily. "I've been having a think, and maybe it'd be a good idea to go back to being hunted by the government. Dip seemed to handle that a lot better."

"They weren't invading all the minds in Gravity Falls, Mabel," he said weakly, sitting up. "At least I'm pretty sure. If I'm proven wrong then I give up and will be moving to Antarctica as soon as practicable."

"Oh man, you'd suck at being a penguin. And I'd pay money to watch."

Pacifica snorted a bit as she stood to regard the older twins. "Well, that was fast. You must have driven like maniacs."

"We came on foot, actually." Winter made sure the door was locked before continuing. "What drove _you_ to come here?"

The blonde shrugged a little, pacing idly around the room as she explained. "Uh, well, it was kinda my mom's idea. I told her about it too; I think she thinks I'm having whatever problem you helped her with. I didn't find you at home, and since you're all buddy-buddy with squeaky-vest and sweater-weirdo I thought you might be here. Mister Pines made me wait with these two. Said he wanted to see us fight and started taking bets. What a creep. I guess I just got tired of trying to hold it all in."

"That is definitely Grunkle Stan," Mabel confirmed with a smile. "By the way, I would have won. Moving on; what do we do about this 'Bill owns Gravity Falls' business? What does that even mean?"

"I can't even begin to think about that right now. All I want is the other two journals so we can get a clearer picture about what Bill is and how to stop him." Dipper, hand on his chest and head down, looked a lot like he had after the attack in the forest. He felt Summer's worried eyes on him. "I'm okay. I'm not going to storm out again even though I really, really want to."

"What journals?" Pacifica asked, looking at the others in turn.

"Uh, we'll..." Dipper trailed off, expression becoming distant. "Huh. Mabel, should we tell her about the stuff?"

"Not sure I want my arch-foe to have that kinda info, bro-bro. Hee, rhyming."

He nodded at that. "Oh, I get it, but I think the Northwests have details we don't." He glanced at the other twins. "What do you two think?"

Summer's face screwed up with disdain. "I think we have to speak with Bill."

"Hahaha _no_ ," Dipper laughed, waving his hands frantically in denial. "That would be the worst idea. Let's do anything but that."

Mabel tried to be gentle with her disagreement. "I don't think we have a choice on either one. Blondie's family knows. And Bill..."

"Stan insinuated that Bill came from the portal."

All eyes went to Winter, who absorbed the Pines' surprise by smoothing back her ebony hair. Pacifica was more confused than anything. "What _portal_?" she demanded, anxiety increasing. "What is going on around here?"

"Oh." Mabel slumped forward and facepalmed lightly. "Oh honey. Wow. Where do we even start?"

"A good place is probably the gentleman conning people downstairs," Summer replied grimly. "I'm sure he'll enjoy inducting another person into his secret club."

The blonde tilted her head and blinked. "What does he have to do with this?"

"It looks like literally everything," Dipper breathed in reply, moving toward the door. "I'll get him, hold on."

They decided to wait in silence, even the incredibly jittery Pacifica. It wasn't long before Stan poked his head through the doorway. "Ah, come on. I took like a hundred bucks in wagers expecting a throwdown and neither of you have a scratch?" The blonde pinned him down with a hellish glare. "Yeesh. I'm joking, don't sue me. What do you kids want?" The atmosphere made his skin crawl. "Uh, forget it." He turned to escape, but Dipper was right behind him, blocking his way. Winter gently dragged him into the room with her power.

"H-how is he doing that? Is this place haunted?"

She ignored Pacifica's questions and shut the door, again with magic. "Tell him what you told us."

"Ew, why?" A fearsome gaze from the blue-eyed woman made her relent. "Uh, f-fine. Whatever."

Stan listened attentively to her recounting of the dream, face remaining stoic throughout. When she concluded, he doffed his fez and looked away sadly. "Sorry, kid. He comes for the natives eventually. I, uh... I dunno what to say. Guess I shouldn't be surprised your family knew. I mean, besides you. They were probably trying to protect you."

"Is Bill gonna stalk us too?" Mabel asked, hugging Waddles for comfort. "I know we haven't seen him since the stupid deed thing but this whole conversation isn't doing much for my confidence level."

"I can't answer that without knowing some really specific stuff, and all that equipment left when Apollyon packed up and shipped out. Although... maybe now that our friends have made a deal with the boys back in Washington, we could find out. Have 'em call it in as a favor," he said, stroking his gray stubble with a smile. "Anyway, Pacifica has a point; your chance is way lower than anyone born here. Heck, you even have a generation separating you."

"That's good news. We'll ask about the items you need," Summer confirmed, "but as much as talking to him disturbs me, learning how Bill fits into the overall scheme of Gravity Falls and what he wants with us just became pretty important. Especially if he really is in control of the area."

"Among other things," Winter said with a scowl, "Like what he has to do with the magic around town and why we can't detect him."

Stan stared blankly at her candor. "Uh, we just spilling all these beans in front of Miss Rich over here? Yeah? Okay, if you say so. Stanley just said he's everywhere in Gravity Falls, always watching, always waiting." A stunted cry from Pacifica made him pause briefly. "I'm really sorry, kid. As for what he wants and all the rest? Not a clue. You'd have to ask him yourself, and that means either meeting him in a dream or summoning him. Which I ain't gonna do."

"Given his apparent reluctance to come to us, we'll have to find someone who will," Winter said, already planning as the words came out. "Who should we ask?"

Mabel's abrupt retching made everyone look over. She needed several seconds and more than a few whispered "oh no"s to collect herself and look back. "Gideon friggin' Gleeful, of course," she whined, "Because suddenly the entire gosh dang universe hates my _guts_."


	24. 180 Degrees

"Mabel, you and Soos saw him do it! Don't you remember the process?"

She ignored Dipper briefly, choosing instead to look around at the gathering in the living room first. Everyone related to the issue was here: Wendy, Soos, Stan, the identical twins, and yes, even Pacifica, who had gone home and come back before the meeting started. Pallid and quiet, the blonde made Mabel feel awkward. "Bro, I saw candles but I don't remember how many, he was kneeling in front of something but we couldn't see what, and then he started speaking in German or French or whatever and if you ask me to repeat it, I'm gonna laugh in your face."

"Given what we had to do to get him out it was probably Latin," Dipper surmised with a frown. "All right. So, what? We gonna break him out of prison?"

Those who knew him looked directly at Stan. "What?" he fired back, hands raised. "Oh sure, prison comes up and everyone looks at me. I don't appreciate your assumptions."

"Are they really assumptions, man?" Wendy asked with a wry smile.

"I'm not answerin' that without a lawyer."

"You want me to call mine?" Pacifica asked, apparently serious. "She bills $22,000 an hour but dad says she's worth every penny."

"Aw, he's just kidding," Soos assured her. "But, uh, have her number handy. Also some bail money. Can't hurt to be prepared."

"What if we call in a favor?" Summer moved away from the wall she'd been leaning on and to the center of the room. "What's the worst they could tell us, no?"

Stan's brow furrowed deeply. "No, the worst thing they could tell you is 'why'. What would we say? 'Ah, no, we just need this criminal for a minute to summon a creature nobody understands and is dangerous in ways the human mind can't even comprehend. Just to have a talk.' Yeah, that'd go over  _real_  well." He frowned at the unhappy noise Pacifica made. "Oh, sorry kid. Maybe you shouldn't be hearing this."

"Too late now," she muttered through clenched teeth. "Not like I can get away from it anyway."

"I know that feel, man." Mabel ruffled up her mousy hair and groaned. "Come on, Grunkle Stan, you've got the journal! I'd like this a lot better if you were the one that summoned him instead of I-refuse-to-friggin'-say-his-name. Then we could send Bill into his mind and do things! Evil, evil things."

He wouldn't yield, crossing his arms and looking a lot like his great niece when she'd get stubborn. "As much as the idea of using Bill against that little brat amuses me, there are bigger things at stake." His attention went to the older twins. "Besides, if he can't get in touch with you two, why do you want to go to him? Seems like a trap."

"I agree completely," Summer said, eyes glued to her sister. "Let's not poke this beehive, hmm?"

Winter stared right back with soft eyes. "Fine... if anyone has a better way to get answers about what's going on. Well?" They all shirked her stare, especially Stan, Wendy, and Soos. Dipper was already looking through the journal for some other option with a fervent Mabel assisting. Pacifica simply shrugged. "Don't all speak at once, now."

"Hold on," Dipper said, shutting the journal as he stood up. "We stopped Bill, but we didn't, I don't know, un-summon him or whatever. He should still be floating around, right?"

Stan, polishing his glasses, shook his head. "Kid, he's always floating around."

"Then why did he need to be summoned in the first place?"

Summer's question made the old man stop cold. "Huh. Hold on a second." He departed into the gift shop; a moment later they heard the distinct thunk of the vending machine being opened.

"What was that?" Pacifica asked.

"I wouldn't even worry about it, man," Mabel replied gently, with sullen, distant eyes. "That's our problem."

Quiet, awkward minutes passed before the thunk repeated. With journal two in his hands Stan returned, flipping through the musty pages as he searched for Bill's entry. "'The demon's true power is only unlocked when engaged in a contract with someone'," he quoted, sitting in the recliner. "'Otherwise, he lays in wait in a stand-by mode, watching and visiting prospective victims in their dreams.' Well, that's helpful. None of you ever sleep again and we should be all right."

The groans and eye rolls he got in reply served to mask Winter and Summer's odd tight-lipped expressions. "That doesn't get us any closer to anything," the blue-eyed woman remarked. "Unless he visits one of us in our dreams. I'm not making a deal with him."

Mabel sighed with relief. "Good idea. Pac-Pac, you didn't shake his hand, did you? Especially if it was like, on fire, but blue?"

"No, he just sent me-" Her face suddenly screwed up. " _Pac-Pac_?"

Dipper rolled his eyes with a smile. "Get used to it. Everybody gets a nickname eventually."

Wendy, arms crossed, tried to joke her way out of her anxiety. "Welp, guess I'd better start guzzlin' coffee. Or start to like coffee, then guzzle some."

"I still can't figure out why he just hasn't visited us." Summer tapped her foot in thought. "If he's so interested, he must know where we are."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Stan peered at the diagram of the mind attached to Bill's entry, lips pursed. "'Cause once he's in, it looks like he's in forever." He winced when Pacifica started to weep. "Uh, I mean... oops."

"Geez, Grunkle Stan, you're about as smooth as peanut brittle." Mabel tried a hug in fits and starts, but found going through with one too awkward. She settled for pats on the back. "It'll be okay! Somehow? Maybe you should take up yoga or something..."

"Just kill me," she whined, hiding her eyes.

Dipper shuddered at her request. "I've seriously had enough of death for a while. Hey Grunkle Stan, can I read your journals?" The old man made a long series of noncommittal noises and gestures. "Dude, just say no if you want to say no."

"No."

All of this had gotten nowhere, and Mabel, squirming in her seat, knew exactly what that meant. "Nooooooo, I don't wanna. No."

"Don't wanna what?"

She pushed Dipper weakly and curled up in her chair. "Don't wanna have anything to do with Gideon."

Summer and Winter had been having another conversation in spurts. Silent and almost totally carried out with facial expressions, it had lead to the same place as the verbal carousel: right back to where they'd started. Summer waffled, glancing back and forth as if literally looking between her options. Winter was a little more direct, but wanted some indication from her sister before proceeding – and then it hit her.

Her eyes lit up so bright that Summer couldn't help but notice it out loud. "Huh?" Now everyone else was staring their way. "Sister?"

But she looked right at Stan. "Maybe..." The word was barely above a whisper, but he heard it anyway and looked up. "Maybe you've got the right idea."

"Should I be happy or worried?" He blinked as Winter moved past and out the side entrance. "Uh, what?"

"Sister!" Summer gave chase, spurring the others to follow her out into the night. They caught up at the edge of the bottomless pit, where the blue-eyed woman was staring into the abyss. The gentle hum of its resident magic filled her senses. "What are you doing?"

"Remembering something we both forgot." A light began to shine from the hole, steadily brightening until the magic emerged, wobbling and floating like a giant rainbow bubble in the humid air. Its shimmering glory caused everyone but the sisters to gasp. The golden sparkles came along with it, sprinkled through its infinite colors. Three of those tiny lights left the cloud and drew near them; one hovered around Stan, Mabel and Dipper, another went to Wendy, and the last timidly approached Pacifica.

"Awww, I want a shiny buddy," Soos said with a frown. That only deepened when his friends' faces became gloomy. "Or maybe I don't. I'm gonna go get the flyswatter."

"Don't you dare," Summer warned him pleasantly, hands clasped behind her back. "Hello, friends. Sorry about the lack of visits. People were trying to murder us."

"Wait... what?" Pacifica asked absently. Most of her attention remained with the dancing golden sparkle in front of her face. Her confused scowl began to warp into a smile. "What is this thing?"

Stan was grinning faintly by now. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered to the glittering spark, which was reluctant to approach the young Pines too closely. "They're related to you too, you know."

Wendy burst out giggling when her twinkle alighted on her nose. "Dude. Look, I'm a pimped-out Rudolph. And I'm pretty sure this thing is talking to me? I feel like I should be more weirded out than I am."

"Heh. Hey, now I want one! Like, for real this time."

Winter shook her head at Soos and stared up into the cloud. "May we ask you something?" She slid her hands into her pockets and nodded. "Have you heard of Bill Cipher?" A ripple went through the opalescent blob. Slowly, it lost its amorphous shape and became a vast, rainbow triangle with simple stick arms, legs, a bow tie, and a top hat. A huge, almond-shaped eye opened in its center. Pacifica shrieked with terror and ran toward the house, startling her sparkle. Everyone but the identical twins watched her go for varying lengths of time. Mabel looked long enough to see the golden twinkle follow.

"I think that's a yes." Summer reached out and poked at the magical shape. Whether in response to her touch or of its own volition, it reverted back to its original bubbly, bouncy form. "What do you know about him... it? I'm not sure which to use."

The cloud was clearly talking to them – their expressions betrayed this fact – but in words only they could hear. This left everyone else standing around and looking at each other. "So, uh, what's it saying?" Stan finally asked. "Can we get some subtitles? Translation, maybe?"

"A moment, please." Winter shifted a bit, hand on her weight-bearing hip as if perturbed by something. "He came before? Came before what? All of you?" She stood straight again. "I see." Several moments of silence followed.

"Well?" Wendy glanced about for some guidance. "Should we be running, man?"

"No, no, it's okay," Summer assured her with a light smile before listening some more. "Apparently the entity is very old, but the Bill we know is not."

"The entity?" Dipper's face twisted with uncertainty. "I can't even begin to explain how much I don't like the sound of that."

"Mm. The good news is he can't really interact with us in the physical realm unless someone 'calls on him'. I assume that's the summoning everyone keeps talking about."

"Hey, great!" Mabel looked up at some displeased grunts from her great uncle. "Could you be not grumpy for like, five minutes?"

"But he can invade your mind via dreams and slowly drive you insane. We already knew that." Summer winced at Pacifica's cry and looked down. The blonde had chosen a poor time to come back to the pit's edge. "Oh, sorry. It seems he likes some people more than others! Maybe he won't like you?"

She wiped her eyes with a sleeve and glowered. "Oh yeah, that's real comforting."

More silence as the rainbow blob communicated, though a summary was quicker in coming this time. "He feeds on magic," Winter said, rubbing her hair down in thought. "If he has trouble interacting with things physically, all the magic already contained in objects should be safe from him."

" _W_ _hat magic_? What is any of this? Why is this twinkly thing so... friendly?!"

Dipper rubbed his eyes with a low groan. "Pacifica, maybe you should just go home."

Summer frowned at the overwhelmed girl for a second before looking at her sister. "I don't know about this. Maybe we should leave it alone and go elsewhere for information."

"Perhaps, but where?"

Suddenly their eyes went to Stan. "Huh? What?" He tugged at his collar, chuckling nervously. "Has anyone told you your eyes are utterly terrifying? I mean that as a compliment. I swear."

"We have to get information from somewhere, Stan," Winter advised flatly. "Be it you or Bill."

"Or we could go to the  _other_  residents of Gravity Falls," Dipper thought out loud. "Like the manotaurs, or the gnomes. They've gotta know something."

"Oh, come on!" Mabel yelled, throwing up her arms. "You're gonna stand there and tell me my choices are fake psychic that  _literally_  tried to murder us or little beardy guys that wanted to make me their eternal queen? Really?"

Wendy, brow cocked, had a little trouble with the picture being painted. "Dude, like garden gnomes? Like the ones in front of Soos' house?"

"I wish."

"Feels like we're just spinning our wheels," Soos pointed out with a yawn. "Let's sleep on it. Most of us have had a rough day. Even me! I got electrocuted twice. Wasn't—wasn't much fun, dudes."

The idea of sleep crippled Pacifica again, dropping her to her knees. Winter scowled lightly at the sight. "You have a point. If nothing else, perhaps Bill will visit us and we can avoid Gideon altogether." Mabel's 'woohoo' made her smile a bit. "In the morning, then. If anyone sees him tonight, call us. You have our numbers."

"Wh-what about me?" the blonde asked weakly, hugging herself tight. "What am I supposed to do if he comes back?"

Mabel jogged away from Dipper and Stan and over to her, crouching down when she arrived. "Listen, you're a jerk. I don't like you. Dipper kind of hates you a lot. But... that doesn't mean I'm gonna leave you hanging. Not like this." She pulled her phone out from under her sweater and turned it on. "You got yours? Here's their numbers."

"Uh, yeah," she nodded, producing her iPhone and looking at Mabel's screen. "Thanks."

"Yep!" Mabel straightened with a smile after the blonde was done. "And welcome to the real Gravity Falls, I guess."

"Totally know how you feel!" Wendy shouted encouragingly. "It gets better. Sorta."

As everyone retreated toward the house, the magic flowed back into the pit, taking with it the little golden sparkles. Wendy was first to leave, hopping on her bike and taking off through the woods. Soos departed next in his old truck. With Mabel and Dipper heading upstairs, the identical twins were left in the living room with Stan and Pacifica. "You haven't been exactly forthcoming," Winter said to the old man. "You still owe us."

He busied himself with channel surfing. "Yeah, yeah. I've got some..." he paused, looking at the blonde, "...stuff I wanna do tonight. I'll bring up what notes I've got for you tomorrow, but I need 'em for my work."

Dissatisfaction shone in her turquoise eyes, but for Pacifica's sake she let it drop for now. "Very well. Tomorrow, then. Do you want a ride home?"

Pacifica looked up. Red-faced and still weepy, a nod was all she could manage. Summer lead them out to the BMW, took the wheel, and soon the three of them left the Mystery Shack behind.

* * *

Mabel's reward for waking up early was being engulfed in a groggy haze. To burn it off, she stumbled her way up to the roof and sat in Wendy's lounge chair, hoping the dawn would get her going. She put a shaky hand on her chest. While the pain was gone, some tightness remained. Perhaps it was physical – or maybe it was the effect of so much worry. Either way, the sensation made her grimace. "Nope. Nope. Gotta smile for Dipper. Gotta smile." Forcing one took enough effort to make her sleepy again. "Dang. Maybe I should... maybe I..."

From impromptu nap to awake again took what felt like a second, but when she looked around the sun was almost completely above the trees and shining right into her face. She shielded herself with an arm. "Wow." The hatch was open, she noted; Dipper must have come looking for her and let her be when he found her asleep. "Gee, thanks. You coulda moved the umbrella for me." After sliding off the chair, she bounced a bit to get blood back into her feet. "Woo! That's better. Maybe I'm solar-powered?" Her dance left her back to the sun – and the rest of her vaguely sweaty. "Too hot. Already too hot."

But when she turned around, the sun had dimmed into a reddish circle behind a cloud, allowing her to gaze right at it. "Pretty!" she exclaimed, finally wearing a grin. "I wonder if you can get yarn that color." For a while, she contemplated. "So that's what a star looks like when it's not frying your eyeballs. Man, no wonder Dip loves astronomy. It's so nice to look at." As she watched, a huge, vertical black slit suddenly opened up in the sun's center. "U-um..." Mabel stumbled backwards until she bumped into the roof. "What the heck?!"

She shrunk back as a cackle split the sky. The sun, now a small white eyeball, zipped toward her and stopped a few feet away, where Bill's yellow, triangular body faded into sight. "Hey, Shooting Star! You seem a little stressed out – and it's not even my fault! I can't have that, you know."

"You!" she growled, storming forward and jabbing a finger at him. It went right through. "Ugh. What are you doing here?"

"I love to prey on people that are suffering!" he replied cheerfully. "Like you! What's the matter, kid? Feeling the pressure?"

"N-no I'm not. Get lost." She turned her back and crossed her arms, frowning at the wooden planks under her feet. "I heard what you did to Pacifica. That wasn't very nice."

"Ha! I need a nickname for her. Not sure which way to go on that one. She's blonde, rich and dull. Oh well. I've got her  _entire life_  to figure something out!"

His words filled Mabel's heart with terror. "You're... you're evil!"

"Wow, you're a lot slower than your brother, aren't you?"

She bared teeth, rolling up her sleeves and preparing to fight. "What do you want with me?!"

He pulled at her cheek a few times, grinning like a madman. "Pff, look at you. Humans are adorable when they get riled up. Maybe that's why I rile them up so much! Makes sense."

She threw a punch at him, which again passed right through. "Dang it! Explain yourself, triangle... triangle butt... I dunno, some insult having to do with shapes and junk, shut up I'm sleepy."

"Ha! Just passing the time, Shooting Star. Actually..." Bill folded his arms and idly looked around. "Hmm, actually... how about this: I'll  _not_  invade Pine Tree's mind if you give me some more info on those weirdos from... what's it called again? Iowa? Whatever. Rich girl didn't have much and she started askin' some awkward questions." He stretched his hand out for a shake. "What do ya say?"

Mabel relaxed from her combat stance and watched as his appendage was consumed by blue flame. "Are you serious? How dumb do you think I am?"

"Admittedly pretty dumb, but that's got nothing to do with this. I know how much you shambling meatballs care for each other. Come on... save him from me! I  _know_  you wanna."

Grumbling, she hugged herself and avoided looking at the demon. Something about this was very wrong, but exactly what eluded her. A struggle broke out in her heart; what was more important? Was it Dipper, or was it keeping safe the secrets that could destroy Earth? Not surprisingly, this was an even fight. "I—I dunno."

Bill's eye did the grinning for the mouth he lacked. "I've got lots of time, kid. No hurry. Just keep being miserable so I can watch."

And she obliged him until her sense of duty and honor, inflated by watching far too many movies, took hold. "Dipper would do the same thing," she said to herself, body straightening and chest puffed out. "The good of the many and whatever the rest of that line was I wasn't paying attention to. I won't talk! Get lost!"

Bill withdrew his hand, extinguished the flame and shrugged. "I admire your sense of stupidity, but boy are you gonna regret this!" After saying so, however, he simply hovered there. "Or maybe not. You guys are pretty forgetful."

"Huh?" Mabel tilted her head. "Are you messing with me? Wait. Pacifica said  _you_  made people forget."

"Ha! I ain't got that kind of power...  _yet_ ," he replied, voice deep and booming for the final word. "Oho, but I will! It's just a matter of time. I've  _already_  won, even if making it official is gonna take a while."

Hands on her hips, Mabel gave him her dourest glare. "You know what? I don't even care what you're babbling about. We're gonna stop you."

"Mhm. You sure beat me that last time! What are you gonna stop me from doing, huh? You haven't got a clue what's going on!"

His teasing nearly worked. Fortunately, the angry rant full of sensitive facts stopped short of her lips and stayed there. "Maybe I don't, but not knowing everything never stopped me before. Look, you wanna talk to Summer and Winter, go talk to 'em! Why haven't you? Huh? Huh? You scared, triangle face?"

Being taunted made Bill swell up and redden with anger. "The last girl who asked me that got some mental scarring for her effort. I won't be so easy on you!"

His warning was far too late; Mabel had him off guard, knew it, and pressed her advantage literally, getting up close and trying unsuccessfully to jab him again and again as she spoke. "Bring it on! You can't deal with twins, man! We kicked your angles all over my uncle's mind and you can't even  _talk_  to Summer and Winter. Like, really? Some dream demon. Get outta my face."

Bill roared at her so forcefully her hair was blown back, but she continued to stand her ground. He deflated back to his usual size and color and growled. "Ugh! I thought you'd be as fun to mess with as what's-her-name. Like it even matters. I'm gonna go torture her again, at least  _she_  cries." He popped out of sight with a little 'poof' sound.

"Yes!" Mabel raised her arms in victory, grinning at the restored sun. "That's for all the times geometry homework gave me a headache!"

His voice trickled over her shoulder, barely a whisper. "But before I go..."

"Huh?" She tried to turn but couldn't, launched off the platform by a force unseen. Shrieking for all she was worth, Mabel fell head first toward the grass below... and woke up with a start in bed. Dipper was awake too – apparently she hadn't just been dream-screaming. "What the?" While sitting up she looked around to make sure everything was in order. Not an easy task; the room was almost pitch-black.

"You scared the crap out of me!" Dipper yelled, a hand on his chest as he tried to catch his breath. "What were you dreaming about?"

"Bill." She didn't understand his horrified silence until recalling what Pacifica had said earlier. "Oh, balls. I wonder if I'm stuck with him now too." Realizing she'd likely thrown her brother under the same bus made her queasy. "Dipper, I'm so sorry..."

He was in the process of turning on his light and looking for a phone to sound the alarm. "Sorry for what?"

"He wanted to know more about the super-twins but I wouldn't tell him. He, um, he kind of threatened to invade your mind too because I wouldn't, so, my bad."

Dipper froze mid-motion, face drained of life. Movement and color came back to him... eventually. "Right. Okay. Thanks for the warning, I'll deal."

His toneless acknowledgment made her blood freeze. "B-bro? You would have done the same thing, right? You know? Saving the world? Heroic jazz?"

"At the cost of losing you? Not a chance," he stated, finally picking up his phone from the table and turning it on.

Mabel's eyes became saucer-sized with confusion. "Wh-wh... what?"

"Hello?" Dipper spoke to the device now, ignoring his sister. "Summer? Hey, sorry, but Bill came to Mabel just now. No, she's fine. He might be after me next. What should we do?" He had to wait out a conference on the other end, doing so with absentminded taps of his foot. "Yeah, I'm here. You're dropping by tomorrow anyway? Great, we'll work it out then. Okay. I'll, well, I'll try to sleep, ahaha. Right. I'm gonna ask her about it, but I don't want to keep you guys on the phone. You know, sneaky ears and stuff. Yep. Okay, later."

"Dipper?" Mabel watched him hang up and sit on the edge of his bed. "Um... you're awfully freaking calm right now."

He scratched at his nose with a shrug. "Calm? Try sleepy. So, like, what happened? Short version and small words, please."

Despite the uncomfortable pit in her stomach, she did her best to parse out the important details. "Mostly Bill being a butt. Except... he said he wasn't making people forget. He isn't strong enough. Then he said he'd already won, but I don't even know what he means. Maybe he was just playing mind games."

"Wait, what? If he's not making people forget, what is?" Dipper hunched over in contemplation. "Hey, Mabel? You ever wondered why hardly anyone else seems to know what's going on around here?"

"Are you kidding? They're dumb as bricks. And that's an insult to bricks." She blinked at his annoyed reaction. "What? We don't know what magic does to brains, Dippingsauce."

He snorted at that. "I really doubt it would make people dumber, Mabel. That toxic water on the other hand... no, no, something else is going on here. I mean, the hospital story has been going around for fifty years. You'd think people would see and talk about a cedar tree that does calculus, or an island that tries to  _eat_   _children_."

"Yeeeeeeaaaah, well..." Lacking an explanation – at least one that was easy to swallow – Mabel couldn't help but sniffle. "Do we have to ask this question? I don't wanna. I don't wanna ask anything ever again."

He slid back under the covers with a sigh. "Let's just get some sleep. I have a feeling we're going to need it."

"And you're okay with sleeping? Shoot, so much for not asking questions anymore. Dang it."

"Look, if he wants to come after me, that's fine. Just as long as he leaves you alone, I don't care what he does to me," he said, turning off his lamp. "Besides, we already beat him once. We can do it again if we have to."

Mabel's jaw dropped. "Dipper Pines! Since when are you so mantastically smooth?"

"That's not even a word. Good night. If Bill bothers you anymore, just... I dunno, talk in your sleep or something. I'll dump a bucket of water on your head."

Slack-jawed, she sat in bed and tried to get over his attitude about the whole affair. "Wow. Why don't you just take all the bullets for me, huh?" she whispered. It rang familiar – her great uncle, she realized, had much the same outlook. He was willing to possibly endanger the world to find his brother. Dipper would apparently condemn the world himself if it meant saving her from Bill Cipher. The idea continued to make her shudder. "Geez. Maybe it just runs in the family."


	25. Nightfall

Something about this scene didn't sit right with Summer or Winter, though both kept their mouths shut as Preston Northwest spoke. He and the twins – and his daughter – were near the front porch of their modest brick house. It was five in the morning and muggy as sin, with inclement weather on the way. Clouds blurred the light of the quarter-moon visible through the far mountains and nearer forest. Only Summer was looking at the man. Her sister's attention was split between his voice and the document in her left hand.

"As you may have guessed, it'll be better if you buy your cars from now on instead of procuring them through  _other_  means," he advised, glancing down at a woozy Pacifica. "Cars that didn't exist show up oddly on background searches, as Colonel Greer has informed me. I do not recommend Gleeful Auto Sales if you want a vehicle that will actually work."

Summer acknowledged this with a nod. "I guess we'll go to that dealership on the other side of town. Will we be paying for anything ourselves?"

"We've set up bank accounts for you both – the details are in those papers. Any expenses will vanish into the infinite abyss of the federal government's black budget."

She tapped at her chin in thought. "Hmm. What about the monitoring?"

"Concluded. Those signatures are from the Director of National Intelligence and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The order was effective at midnight this morning."

"Oh." That meant Dipper's call to her was safe, even if the phones were unable to keep it a secret – assuming they'd kept their word.

Winter flipped a page over and kept reading. "I'm having trouble believing your government would just stop watching us, knowing what they know."

He smirked faintly. "They aren't stupid, Miss Weiss. There are other battles to fight – less costly ones. Besides, your presence would, well, let's just say it would be destabilizing if the general public knew. Easier for them to hush it up and keep you happy than risk making you upset again."

"Nnnnnnh...?" Pacifica droned, looking around slowly. She was a few feet away from the conversation. "My head hurts."

"I'm sorry, dear, we'll make this quick. Go back to the car."

She refused him with a dismissive motion. "That stupid seat makes my legs hurt."

"Are we supposed to stop asking questions now?" Winter asked, handing the papers over to Summer so she could read them.

"Actually, no. You are free to investigate."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "Why..." And then she frowned darkly. "They want to exploit the results, if there are any, while we do all the heavy lifting."

"I believe they would call it 'seizing an opportunity'."

Summer had gotten bored with the documents a few seconds after getting them and waited her turn to speak up. "I'm sure they would. What about the other offer? Is anyone willing to give us further details?"

"The Pentagon is considering it. For now, we all just have to wait." Preston watched his daughter stumble around the yard for a moment. "I think I should get her home."

Winter eyed her too, using a subtle, magical tug to stop her from tipping over as she moved about unsteadily. "Why did you bring her in the first place?"

"I didn't intend to. I was about to leave the... emergency room when Agent Trigger delivered the paperwork. Pacifica hasn't been feeling well since she returned home last night."

"Nngh," the girl mumbled, pulling out her phone. "5:13? Man... wait, how did these numbers get into my contacts list? I—whatever." She rubbed the side of her head and stared, bleary-eyed, off into space. "Dad, are we done yet?"

He nodded once, gently taking her by the hand. "Yes, we are. If you've any further questions, you know how to contact me. Good day."

"Very well," Winter said with a small wave. They watched him guide the disoriented Pacifica away, then drive off in his enormous silver Mercedes S-Class coupe until it disappeared around the ascending curve of the road. "What was wrong with her? She really did seem ill."

"And she forgot what Mabel did." Summer put her hands on her hips. "Preston knows something. I can feel it."

"As long as it doesn't affect our little group, I'll let it slide." She thought on this a bit more, eyes narrowing. "I don't even know why I'm hoping it won't, but there's no use in actively  _looking_  for more trouble, I suppose."

"Yes, why hunt it down when we can let it come to us." The red-eyed woman suddenly did a little dance. "I'm going to buy the reddest car I can find!"

Winter rolled her eyes with a smile, thankful for the levity. "You and your shiny objects."

* * *

Mabel had never been this quiet at a breakfast table in her life, but the bags under her eyes spoke volumes. Dipper had them too; after her dream, they'd spent the rest of the night in a futile pursuit of sleep. He was a little annoyed about it, too. She could see it on his face. "Dipper, I-"

"Not right now," he said around a mouthful of cereal. "Kinda grumpy. You kept me up."

And that effort was exactly why both twins were exhausted. She'd done it in a guilt-fueled attempt to keep Bill away from him – after all, it was her fault that he'd be condemned to a... well, she wasn't exactly clear what, but she just knew it would be bad. Terrible. So she panicked, throwing things and poking and singing and knitting as loud as she could until the sun came up and slumber was out of their reach. It was her desperate attempt to take the bullet for once. "I just—I mean I did—because I wanted to..."

She sounded uncomfortably like him: awkward, unsure, stammering. It was a tone unbecoming of her, so he set his anger aside. "I know you were trying to keep Bill away from me, but we'll have to sleep sometime."

Listless pokes rained down on her waffles. "I knooooow. I guess I feel kinda stupid now." She stared at him, vaguely fearful. "You mad?"

He shrugged, busying himself with the colorful lumps in his bowl. "Not any madder than the last time you kept me awake."

"The last time?" She blinked while thinking... that was the electron carpet incident. "But we had a huge fight and you got all vulnerable and sentimental. And I learned things I did  _not_  wanna learn, man."

"Right," he said, unable to avoid snorting at her summary. "Come on, eat something. You'll need all the sugar you can get."

A thunk interrupted her attempt. Moments later, Stan wandered into the kitchen, looking as weary as his charges. "Huh? Who cooked?" He blinked at Mabel when she raised her hand. "Oh yeah. I forget you can do that sometimes."

"You mean without setting the cabinets on fire?" Dipper said with a chuckle.

"Th-that was on purpose," he said hastily, avoiding their looks by searching for a plate.

"So it was arson, then."

"Pffffff." Mabel covered her mouth for a moment and laughed into her sleeve. "Your eggs are sunny-side up. Just like you like them! I think. Do you even eat eggs? Not sure."

"They're fine, kid."

The three of them ate, or picked at their food, in silence for a while. Dipper finished with his meal first and stared across the table at Stan. "Busy with the portal last night?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing all over the room. "Uh... yeah. Lot of calculations and stuff. Refueling. You know."

Dipper's gaze was adamant, even though the rest of his expression held no ill will. "I don't, actually, but I'll take your word for it."

"Are you gonna fight?" Mabel asked them, shielding herself with a chunk of waffle on the prongs of her fork. "'Cause I can't handle you fighting right now."

"What? No. Just trying to... I don't know." Dipper slid his bowl away and crossed his arms on the table before laying his head on them. "I don't know what I know anymore, you know?" They stared at him blankly. "I used too many knows."

Stan's tone was apologetic. "I get it, I do. I never meant for you to find out about any of this. I mean, I didn't even know I'd make this much progress while you were stayin' here. I had no idea where journal two was. How did Gideon get his grubby little hands on it?"

"No clue. I'm just glad he doesn't have it now." Dipper tilted his head to watch Mabel, who was finally eating in earnest. "I wonder when they'll get here. I could use a nap."

He wouldn't get his answer for a while. The table was cleared and the dishes washed, a task he and Mabel completed while Stan went to get dressed. After that, they dragged themselves upstairs to change. Once they'd finished and were back downstairs, his phone emitted a chime. "Eh?" He scanned the screen and found a message from Summer. "'Come look at our new car!' What? They got  _another_  one?" He lead Mabel to the gift shop porch. "Okay, where are they?"

"I hear something." She went to the edge and peered through the forest. It wasn't the ear-shattering apocalyptic roar of a Lamborghini for sure, but the sound still carried a snarling edge. As they watched, a dark blue Dodge Charger on gleaming five-spoke wheels arrived, coming to a halt in the free parking lot. "Oh, snap! They stole an FBI car!"

"That one was black." Dipper hopped down the steps and walked to meet them. "Geez! Pick a ride, will you?" he joked as Winter emerged from the driver's seat.

"I did," she replied while cracking her knuckles. "Summer has hers, but this one is mine. I liked the noise those agents' car made when I drove it. And it has four doors, so we can carry a group." Her face twisted vaguely at the portal's song.

Summer didn't visibly acknowledge it, nor her sister's expression. "I am so proud!" she chirped, clasping her hands. "She finally has something that isn't icy blue or black."

"I own blue jeans, you know."

"Those don't count, sister."

Mabel giggled at her. "Pfff, y'all are adorable. Grunkle Stan's around here somewhere, let's go find him!"

He was just about to enter the secret passage as they came in, scaring him half to death. "Oh! Good grief," he complained, straightening his fez. "Knock next time!"

"Nobody knocks on that door," Dipper pointed out.

"That's not—I mean it's just polite... never mind." After collecting himself, he looked to the older twins and nodded. "You two wanna come down with me?"

"Hey, what about us?" Mabel said harshly, glaring at him. "This is a team effort! We're on the team! Don't kick us off the team!"

"Uh..." Stan looked at the cuckoo clock with a frown. "You're right. We got time. Okay, come on."

"Woo! Go team!"

Once everyone had gotten off the elevator, the old man sat down at the desk full of switches, staring through the glass as the machine's lights blinked patterns only he understood. "It's weird, you know? I spent most of the summer of '43 with Uncle Stanton. My parents had no idea what he was really doing. I guess they wanted us to get to know him 'cause they were terrified he'd get drafted or something." That wistful look returned as he leaned back in the chair. Mabel and Dipper fell still when he gazed at them. "I was your age, more or less. Maybe history really does repeat itself."

"Wait, did you go on crazy adventures with your brother too?" Mabel asked, bouncing in place. "How long has Gravity Falls been so weird?"

"Forever. Even the people that lived here before Lewis and Clark showed up knew about this valley. Every tribe had a name for it, but most of those languages are long gone. The stuff you're seeing now didn't start until Project Apollyon finished building that thing," he said, waving at the portal. "It changed everything. Even the weather. Made it rainier during the summer."

Summer noticed journal one amongst the books on his desk and pursed her lips. "What else did it do?"

"Well..." Stan leaned up again and grabbed a musty, yellowed folder off the desk. "Hand this to her, would you?" Dipper obliged him. "All the official documentation is locked up somewhere. But Stanley took a lot of notes from Dietrich and Wilhelm."

Dipper shed his hat and tried to fan the stifling air away. "How did you get that close to a top-secret project?"

Stan chuckled a little. "It's not like we ever got down here, kid, at least not back then. The Seiferts were already around, and we became friends with Wilhelm. He explained to us what to expect so we wouldn't get scared and start blabbing. So did Uncle Stanton, after he found out we knew. Not telling us would have been worse, 'cause we'd have never kept our mouths shut about it if they hadn't convinced us to." Dipper's strange, contemplative look made him raise a brow, but he kept quiet since the boy's eyes were directed at the floor. "I guess I tried the opposite with you two. Looks like I was wrong."

Unlike earlier, Summer was actually interested in reading these papers. "I see a lot of items from the third journal listed here. Just how many of those is Apollyon responsible for?"

"Well, that's kinda complicated. There's the direct stuff – I mean things that were exposed to the portal energy and then buried in the woods afterward, like the original height-changing crystal. Then there's indirect stuff-"

"Wait, there was just one crystal? There's a whole formation now!" Dipper exclaimed nervously. "Oh man, you guys were right. Apparently this magic is just changing stuff at will."

"Not at will," Winter said, taking the notes from Summer. "If it were at will, your whole planet would probably be unrecognizable by now. It was likely just modifying its container to be more comfortable."

Mabel cocked her head and blinked. "What? Comfortable? It's magic! Whatchu talkin' 'bout?"

"Magic is just as alive as the people that use it," Winter said as she walked away from the group and watched the portal through the open door. It spoke to her lowly, almost calmly.

"And like water, it prefers to bead together and flow, gathering more of itself and looking for something to hold it," Summer added quietly. "If the container is not appropriate, the magic will do its best to make it so – it won't hurt a living thing, however. The fact that your crystal grew despite its restraint is a testament to how pliable this place is."

Dipper looked up at last and raised a hand. "So you're saying magic exposure wouldn't make someone... how do I put this... mentally impaired? So mentally impaired that they wouldn't notice fantastic and ridiculous things happening around them every single day?"

Both women regarded him with surprise. "No, it wouldn't," Summer replied. "Raw magic sees only to its own survival. Damaging something it would want to take shelter in wouldn't be very sensible."

Winter came back over and stood with her sister. "That isn't to say people don't use their magic for evil, or that magic itself can't become... unstable."

"W-wow, that sounds pretty terrifying," Mabel said with an anxious giggle. "How? Do we wanna know? Is it gonna make me cry?"

"If too much magic gathers in one place – or person – the effects can be very terrifying, yes." Summer rifled through the papers for a second longer and sighed. She intended to float them back to Stan, but a set of words caught her eye. "Hmm?" She gasped upon closer inspection. "It changed some people  _into_  things?"

"What?!" the younger twins said together. "What? What did they turn into?" Dipper came forward to look at the documents himself. "It doesn't say... shoot, this sort of stuff is why we really need the official documents."

Mabel nodded frantically. "Hey, what if they really are in the graveyard thingy? I mean, that summary or whatever was there."

"Hold on, you found official stuff?" Stan became restless, getting out of the chair. "Where? Did you see anymore?"

His niece was just as antsy. "There's a chamber hidden in the cemetery with all sorts of junk. Blubbs interrupted us when we were looking, so we don't know what else is down there."

"What the... how'd he know to show up?"

"He said there was an alarm—oh, man. Even if I hadn't made that phone call he probably would have told the feds anyway. Dang," Dipper said, grumbling and crossing his arms.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the local government had some idea. Then again..." Winter trailed off, thinking. "The people here  _are_  blissfully unaware. I wonder how that can be possible, given all the magic we detect. It must be affecting something near a population."

Summer perked up at that. "Oh! Sister! Tell them what happened this morning," she said, motioning around at everyone.

"Mm? Oh, that's right. Preston dropped by and informed us that the spying is over. What's more interesting is how Pacifica was acting. She doesn't seem to remember all of yesterday. I think he knows why."

Dipper nodded. "Makes sense. They're rich. Rich people  _have_ information, man. We should interrogate them."

"Easy kid. We just got one powerful entity off our back, I don't wanna mess with another." Stan cleared his throat and tried to sound in-charge. "Okay, we got a lot of stuff to juggle. How we wanna handle this?"

"Can we sleep first?" Mabel asked, rubbing her eyes. "Uggggggh, Bill was right, he's already won. We can't not sleep. Stupid triangle."

This was news to Stan. "You had one of those dreams last night? Did he speak in riddles? He likes that. He likes to claim he owns you, too." He slumped on his feet when the young twins stared at him. Their expressions were clear – to them, Bill appearing in one's mind was equivalent to a death sentence. Mabel, especially, seemed ready to cry. "That's what Pacifica was here about yesterday, wasn't it? Uh... you wanna—you wanna talk about it?"

Dipper's face twisted with misery. "I don't feel like it right now. Let's just figure out what to do."

"Before we run off again, I'd sort of like to know what's on the other floor of this facility."

They turned or looked at Summer with expressions ranging from stoic to utter shock. "The other floor? What other floor?" Dipper looked up at Stan and repeated himself. "What other floor?"

"I see you didn't pay much attention to the elevator ride. You can't go from one to three without a two, you know." Stan patted him on the head reassuringly and snickered. "Anyway, I wish I knew what was on that level. The door's locked tight. Never been able to get in."

All the Pines gasped and stepped back when Summer's hands ignited in black, sparkling fire. She raised her right one and grinned. "There isn't a door on either of our planets that can stop us, Stan."

"Aheh, that looks a lot like what Bill d-does... uh... could you stop that please?" Mabel pleaded quietly. Her fidgeting made Dipper came over and give her a hug. "Thanks, bro."

"Oh, sorry." Summer extinguished her fingers and frowned sheepishly. "Let's go break into something!"

"I love breaking into stuff!" Stan yelled, pounding his hand into his fist as he moved toward the elevator. "Besides, I wanna see you two at work." The warbling of an alarm stopped them in their tracks. "Oh, come on!"

Dipper was right next to a bank of screens and turned to check them. On one monitor, Wendy was visible parking her bike. "It's cool, it's cool. Just Wendy."

He straightened his tie while proceeding onward. "Yeah, but that means it's 9:30 – assuming she's actually  _on time_  for once – and I've got a group comin' in soon. Besides, we need to let her and Soos in on this too. We could use their help to look around anyway."

"Why do you insist on having tourists after all that's happened?" Winter asked.

He entered the code and tugged at his shirt collar. "'Cause if I didn't, certain, uh, people would get suspicious about what's happening out here. Gotta keep up appearances."

Mabel accepted that answer with a happy nod. "Oh, that makes sense—hold up." Her smile shattered in an instant. " _What_  people, Grunkle Stan?"

"Uh... well, you know. The people."

"Grunkle Stan!"

He drew back at her shriek and cringed. "The military, okay? Yeesh. I'm not exactly gonna tell everyone I've got a working portal, you know? That's why I'm not gonna turn the thing on full-blast until I'm good and ready."

"And we're back to death by shadowy government agency," Dipper said with a sigh. "Bill's after us, the assassins are probably going to be after us  _again_ , and who knows who else wants a piece of our pie that we haven't even thought of yet."

Winter, thoughtful and quiet, entered the elevator before putting in her two cents. "It might be all right. We're being allowed to investigate what happened here. I suppose they want us to clean up their mess."

"I don't think what I'm doing falls under the concept of investigation, but we can hope." Stan pressed a few more buttons after everyone was inside. "Let's just get through the day. If we're going to be snooping, I'd rather skulk around at night when people can't see. And it's harder for them to shoot at us."

* * *

Wendy quietly read the latest issue of  _Avoiding Eye Contact Monthly_  while Soos busied himself with a quick check of the remaining inventory, humming an idle tune. Both were lulled into a sleepy calm by the drizzle that had been coming down since noon. Stan's last group of the day had departed the shack about fifteen minutes previous. The old man himself was in the office sorting out the proceeds – or so they thought. He startled them both as he returned from the living room. "Geez, man, don't walk so soft," she scolded him. "Where are the little guys?"

He taped an "out of order" sign on the vending machine while replying. "Wakin' up. Summer just called, said they're on their way."

"Cool. I guess. What are we getting up to this time?"

"That's what we're gonna decide," he said, moving over to lean on the counter. "You two all right being in on it?"

Soos gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. "Sure, Mister Pines. What's the worst that could happen?" His hand dropped when they both glared. "Don't even ask. I got it, I got it."

"Mabel, whyyyyyyyy," Dipper moaned, stumbling through the doorway and bumping off one of the nearby displays. "I was sleeping so well. So well."

She came in behind him, arms raised and dancing. "'Cause it's adventure time, broface! We got questions to answer, answers to question, sights to see, death to avoid. My priority is on the death-avoiding."

He could barely prop his eyes open and walk, much less do a jig. "I don't want adventure, I wanna go back to that incredible dream I was having about Weeeeeee-" As she looked over at him expectantly, he froze with terror. "...Westinghouse! George Westinghouse, pioneer of electricity and champion of the alternating current! Yeah! Ahaha!"

Wendy cocked a brow and stared at him. "Real smooth, dude. Real smooth."

He was still laughing nervously. "Y-yeah! I s-sure love industrial history." Mabel, standing beside him, facepalmed hard.

Fortunately, the arrival of Winter's blue Charger made enough noise to get him off the hook. Summer was the first to come in a few moments later. "Hello!" she chirped. "You two look rested."

"We crashed  _hard_ ," Mabel confirmed with a light smile. "No Bill, though."

"Wait, the triangle dream guy? Aw, man, I'd just forgotten about him," Wendy complained, slumping forward. "Oh well. Was nice while it lasted."

Winter poked her head through the door before entering. "I haven't heard back concerning the government's desire for us to decontaminate the area. I'm getting annoyed."

Dipper stared at her in confusion. "Decontaminate? What are you talking about?"

Her face grew even more irritated. "Sister, I thought you texted them?"

Summer folded her arms and frowned. "I did! Maybe it didn't go through? The bars go up and down so much when we drive around."

"She's got a point. Reception can be pretty loopy around here," Wendy said with a smile. "Anyway, good to see you guys again."

"Mm. Have we given some thought as to how we should split up?"

"I'm definitely gonna need one of you two to poke around in the basement," Stan said as he began to walk. "I'm interested in that cemetery thing the kids were talkin' about too, though. Someone needs to go over there."

"And risk getting arrested by the Sheriff?" Summer asked as she magically straightened up some of the items on the shelves.

Wendy raised her hand, grinning wryly. "Pff, I'll go. Blubbs knows better than to mess with my dad, I should be fine. Soos can tag along."

"Dude, yes! I love digging up other people's closely guarded secrets!" A bevy of stares made him swallow. "N-not that'd I'd do that to you guys. No way."

Winter's eyes were daggers until they went back to Stan. "Mm. I wanted to take a tour and see what sort of magic we're dealing with, so I'll need Dipper and the journal. More than one, if you'll let him take them."

The old man issued a nod. "He can take two, but one is stayin' with me."

"I'm going wherever Dipface is going!" Mabel said with a flourish. "So I guess we got two groups of two and one of three? Should somebody go check on Pacifica or something?"

"You could if you want."

Her face screwed up at Winter's suggestion. "Iiiiiiiiiiii will pass, thanks. I don't want whatever happened to her to happen to me."

"But we'll still need to talk to them at some point. See what they know." Dipper checked the pockets of his vest for supplies. "Okay, journal, flashlights, aspirin, new phone... I'm good to go."

"Hold your horses." Stan took a look at his obnoxious gold watch. "We got some time before the sun goes down. No need to rush off."


	26. Destiny

Mabel couldn't help but sing "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" at the top of her lungs when it came on the radio. Because of her crooning, it felt a lot like any other car trip to Dipper – at least, when he let himself forget everything else. He was in the back behind the passenger seat as Winter drove the blue Charger through the woods toward town. A gentle rain continued to fall, painting a shine on the road ahead. It wasn't the weather, nor her singing, nor even his own anxieties that currently had all his attention, though; it was the blue-eyed woman herself. With the way she gripped the wheel and the icy silence that clung to her like a cloak, he could tell something wasn't right – though he didn't know quite how to ask what. Since Mabel was lost to the music, however, it was up to him. At last he squirmed up enough courage to shout her down. "Is everything okay up there, Winter?"

"Huh?" She looked over at the blue-eyed woman and examined her demeanor, quickly realizing there was a problem. "Oh, wow. Someone looks awkward," she noted, turning down the volume. "What's up, yo?"

"I..." Her face screwed up with hesitation as she trailed off.

Mabel crossed her arms and frowned a bit. "Hey hey hey look, we get that you're the strong, silent type and all, but don't be bottlin' up your mopey-mope. We gotcha back, right Dip?"

"Right," he confirmed with a thumbs up. "Besides, I don't think I've ever seen you tense before. It's kinda weird."

Lips pursed, Winter drove on in silence until Mabel gave her a poke. Then another. A third made her crack. "I don't like that I can't call Summer because she's underground."

"Ohhhhh, I see now." Mabel faced forward and nodded sagely. "Yeah, it sucks when you're apart and you don't exactly wanna be. Sometimes Dipper drives me up the friggin' wall, but I like having him around."

"Mm. I think what happened in the woods is still bothering her, but I... I don't know how to talk to her about it. Sometimes we feel so far apart. She keeps most of her troubling thoughts to herself. We both do."

"Try asking her what's wrong over and over and over until she says something or tries to punch you!" Mabel suggested cheerfully, bouncing in her seat. "Tackle the problem head on! None of that personal space business either, hug her! Hug her until she gets mad!"

Dipper shook his head with a sigh. "Just because it works for you doesn't mean it'll work for them. Look, everyone needs their space. Ask her once, then whatever happens, respect it. Maybe she'll want to talk, maybe not. If she doesn't, at least you gave her the chance. You can always try again later."

Winter nodded at his advice. "Perhaps. We both have a tendency to suppress our thoughts. It takes a little prying to open us up."

"Right, right. I dunno, I don't think I'm the best guy to ask about this. I like to keep my feelings on the down low too, you know. Except it's pretty hard when you have someone like Mabel around all the time."

She cracked a massive smile back at him before looking up at Winter. "You bet your butt it is. That's why having a twin is so great. You've always got someone around to pick you up."

"I suppose, but I don't tend to be very emotional. Come to think of it, both of us tend to be quiet."

"Yeah, you guys have a lot of conversations without words, huh," Dipper replied. Winter mentioning her lack of emotion brought up a thought. "Wait, that reminds me: was all the stuff you said about your past true, it just happened on an alien world?"

"That's right. Everything we said is true, it just didn't happen on Earth."

Mabel had grown tired of the sullen atmosphere. "Hey! What  _is_  your home world like? Is it like ours? Ooo, ooo, is the grass purple? Is the sky green? Is there water? Are there animals? Ohmygosh wait are the animals cute?!"

Winter allowed herself a smile, relaxing her iron hold on the wheel as she settled back in the seat. "A lot of things are the same. We have cars and cities. Trains. No planes, though. Many members of my species can fly. A few have telekinesis. Fewer still are capable of both."

Dipper listened attentively until she finished and made a thoughtful noise. "Huh. Must be nice, though, having an entire race that can just make stuff from other stuff no problem. I bet you guys never have wars or anything." In an instant Winter's demeanor became sullen, so sullen that it made both kids uncomfortable. "...what did I say? What did—I'm sorry! I'll shut up until we get to the lake!"

Melancholy was etched on her face. "It's fine, but you're wrong. There are only five of us who have the power to change matter, including myself and Summer. The ability is incredibly rare. Besides, we still have political differences – so yes, I'm familiar with war."

"Oh, forget that sad stuff. Hey, you're not  _super_  alone, then, right? I'm a little confused," Mabel said, rubbing her chin adorably. "'Cause, I mean... you've gotta have friends back home. Don't you?"

Winter smiled again – but this time she almost beamed. "We do now. At any rate, our worlds are fairly similar. Although... the air here smells a bit strange. I've read about pollution. I hope your atmosphere isn't going to kill us."

Here their talk ended, as they'd reached their destination – good thing too, as Winter's last statement made both Mabel and Dipper laugh nervously. She parked the car further back than usual to keep it out of sight and emerged first, glancing up at the rain. Unlike the kids, she didn't bother with an umbrella. "Okay, okay—shoot, what page is it... got it!" Dipper said, fumbling to hold both the journal and his umbrella and walk all at once. "Island head beast. It's  _massive_! But it flies somehow... you know, now that I think about it, I guess it probably would take magic to lift. It tried to eat our boat when we rowed out there to investigate the last time."

"With us in it, too!" Mabel added happily. "I shoulda brought Bear-O. Doesn't feel right without him."

"Ew. No," he replied, shuddering with the thought. "Hate that thing." He cleared his throat and switched back to the more important topic at hand. "Since it tried to eat us, I assume it feeds on humans so it's probably dangerous. Figured we should check it out first."

They stood on the shore and looked out across the water at the small islands. Beyond the striking of raindrops on the surface and a few frogs, the area was quiet. Almost peaceful. "Which one is it?" Winter asked, glancing down at the boy.

"That one right there, with the trees in the center and the weird boulders on the shore." Dipper put the journal into his vest and checked the beach for a means of transport. "So, we wanna paddle or fly? I don't think anyone is around, we could get away with it."

"Mm. We won't go too high." Winter grabbed them with her power and lifted, smiling at their reaction. "Sorry. Summer is right, this is rather fun." She proceeded over the water, so low the toes of her black sneakers dragged along the surface.

The kids had to hold their umbrellas in front to deflect the rain; Dipper wasn't too pleased with this, hemming and hawing about not getting too close to the island because he couldn't see where they were going. "Hey, uh, shouldn't we be higher up?" he asked as they slowed to a stop. Once his umbrella was out of the way, he gulped at the lack of distance. "This thing can float. We... wow, we're way too close."

Mabel tilted her head. "Um, didn't it already know we were coming in the boat from way farther away than this?"

Winter ran a check of her magical radar and frowned. There were lots of faint little sparks in the usual places – including the cloud of fairies behind and to their left – but nothing where the island sat. "I don't notice anything in the water. Perhaps we need to attract its attention." She kicked at the lake, causing a bloom of ripples, then backed off with the kids. Nothing happened. "Mm. Not enough?"

"Maybe it feels vibrations or some junk?" Mabel offered, eyes darting around. "So, like, it felt people coming by the rowing motions? Oh! It's kinda like a huge Venus fly trap! That eats peop—I don't like this train of thought anymore." She drew up and hugged herself, staring at the island.

Winter's brow creased momentarily. Suddenly, she sent them away with a wave, hovering them back to the shore. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Dipper demanded, flailing a bit. "Winter? Winter!"

"Relax." She popped a little wooden boat out of a piece of driftwood and set them in it, since by now they were writhing with her power's tingling. "Stay there, I'm going for a swim."

" _Are you insane_?!" he screeched. Their scramble to the bow as they watched her dive in nearly capsized the vessel. "Winter Weiss, get back here this instant!" they both screamed.

"Swim" wasn't quite the word for what she was doing; projecting a bubble of sparkling power around herself, she more or less flew underwater in circles around the island. Her phone's light was just bright enough to reveal the mass wasn't attached to the lake bed – in fact, its base was simply a tangle of roots which contained a few human skeletons in various states of completion. The whole stringy structure moved gently with the current, but the island itself stayed put. Just as she was about to head back up, however, a fiery spark shot through her brain which stopped her cold. "Flight magic?" she whispered. The whole thing slowly rose to the surface with a tremendous bellow, two glowing eyes opening on its rocky bulk as it went. She followed, slipping back into the air with hardly a ripple left behind.

And after looking around, she quickly realized what had woke it up. Mabel and Dipper were paddling like mad with their hands toward her – at least until the creature started to rise. As she watched, they screamed and tried to turn the boat away. "I told you to stay back. What were you doing?" she asked after flying over to them.

"We were trying to help you!" the girl said between gasps of air. "We thought you were just gonna end up right in its mouth and we started to freak the heck out."

All three looked back at the creature, looming above the water as it rotated to face them. Bits of soil and rock fell as it turned, along with a deluge of water. As it lumbered through the air, Winter magically grabbed the boat and took off for the beach. "I felt it emit a flight spark," she said loudly. "If it has the power to lift that much weight I don't want you two anywhere near it."

"What about our flashlights?" Dipper yelled back, holding down his hat. "We could shrink it! Capture it for study!"

Winter shook her head. "One magical object exposed to the power of another? It's far too risky. Especially with a creature that already eats humans."

"She's got a point, Dipper!"

He glanced over at Mabel and frowned. "All right, we'll sit this one out. Last time we tried to fight it kinda went sideways anyway. Uh, see you back on the beach! Be careful."

With one last invisible shove, Winter sent the boat toward shore and then whirled to face her immense foe. It charged with all the speed of a tidal wave of molasses, booming indecipherable gibberish as it approached. Its speaking granted her one clue, however: each time it opened its gaping maw, she could detect another spark beyond its teeth. She decided it was only logical to go look for it. Before it got too close, however, she quickly sent a text to Dipper to ease their troubles about what they were about to see.

_I know what it looks like, but I'll be fine. Wait there._

When the beast spread its jaws to consume her, she didn't try to escape. After avoiding its stony teeth, Winter found an awful, dripping chamber, half earthen and half glistening gray flesh, full of what felt like saliva. A tongue of muscular gravel fought to swallow her, but she avoided it by darting around the roof of its mouth and using her phone to see. The spark's shout was plainly apparent now. "I hear you!" she called over the terrific gnashing. "I heard you fly, and I hear you crying."

Everything fell silent and stopped moving – including the creature itself, based on the shuddering creaks that came from all around. She alighted on its tongue and gazed at its epic teeth. "You're changing stone to flesh. I'm familiar with this process. Why do you feed on human life?" The wispy answer caused her frown to deepen. "To become human again? Who were you before?" Her head tilted at the reply. "Your names are lost. Trust me, I know that feeling well." She closed her eyes with a sigh as the magic kept speaking. "Which world are you from, I wonder?" Another light grabbed her attention, reddish and brilliant, coming from the creature's throat.

A huge red glimmer emerged, shining like a ruby in the darkness. Surrounding it was the vaguest, glowing cloud – like the pit's magic, but far less developed. It traced hoops around her excitedly. "From this one – you remember? So you're one of the changed. What? Of course you didn't want to hurt anyone. I—I understand, trust me. Let me offer you another way. Where is your flying friend?" She looked away as a cyan pulse traced vein-shaped paths through the stony flesh and faded. "Oh, I see you better now. Listen, I know a place where you can be safe. Where you can wait until my sister and I can figure things out. And you won't have to hurt anyone else. What do you say?"

The whole mass emitted a terrible shake, and that was answer enough.

Winter nodded, wearing the faintest of smiles. "Very well. Extract yourselves and come along. I can protect myself from the debris. I'll take you back."

With one last bellow, the island fell apart around her, a rain of teeth and rocks and trees and eyes. The cyan pulse manifested again, coagulating into a sparkle as its physical shell crumbled. The dust combined with the saliva on her skin and clothes in a clingy, unpleasant mixture, but a towering spray of water kicked up by the falling junk served to wash most of it away. Sparks in tow, she flew back toward the beach and found Mabel in the midst of a sobbing fit, barely able to hold her umbrella upright. Dipper was trying fruitlessly to calm her down. "What happened?" she asked upon landing, the points of light in orbit around her torso.

"It ate you!" Mabel yelled, infuriated. "You just floated there and  _let_  it eat you! You'll be fine? You're nuts! You're freakin' nuts! Why in the heck would you do that?! You don't know what's in there!"

Stunned by her anger, Winter actually looked off guard for once. "But I-"

"Mabel, calm down! She's okay!"

Dipper's plea fell on deaf ears. "Yeah, she's okay  _this_ time! You can't just go flying around thinking you're a superhero even if you kind of are one and pick fights with stuff a hundred times your size! You're gonna get killed! Then what are we supposed to do, go back and tell Summer 'hey, sorry, we kinda watched your sister get murdered and didn't really do anything! Our bad!'" she ranted, free arm waving. "'Cause... 'cause..." Her rage had found its limit, leaving her exhausted. She hunched over and tried to catch her breath.

"Mabel?" Winter asked gently, stooping down. The frightened sparkles hid behind her back.

"Wh-what if you die and it's our fault and she gets mad at us?" Their combined stares made her tense up. "Do you realize how scary she is? When she loses her cool, people get seriously wrecked!"

Winter straightened and sighed. "She would rather kill herself then hurt either of you."

"How do you know?! You said you don't even know what she's thinking sometimes!"

Mabel's final outburst echoed off the trees and water for ages, emphasized even more by the lack of response from Winter. Head bowed, the blue-eyed woman walked past them toward the car with the magic following close behind. The kids turned and watched her go. " _Wow,_  Mabel, what the heck," Dipper murmured.

"I d-dunno." A few awkward moments passed as they watched Winter move down the beach through the rain. The sparkles' glow turned the drops into falling jewels for an instant. "Oh... man. I told  _her_  not to bottle. I bottled, Dipper. I bottled hard."

"I noticed." He adjusted his hat with a frown. "Come on. Let's just get out of here. Maybe we should go home and check on Stan and Summer, huh? Get out of the rain?"

A smile adorned her face again; sad and shaky, it broke his heart into a thousand pieces. "Hee, I guess I was the one that needed to vent, not you. I better go say sorry."

* * *

Wendy had decided several minutes ago that dead trees made for poor shelter, but their options for cover were limited in the graveyard. The drizzle simply wouldn't go away. "Hey, what time is it?" she asked Soos, who was crouched by her right side.

"Like, ten." He glanced down at his watch to confirm. "Yeah, little after ten. Ready to go?"

"May as well. Don't think it's gonna stop raining anytime soon. Pretty sure everybody is asleep by now, too." She nodded and waved for him to follow. "All right, which statue is it again?"

He pointed his flashlight ahead. "The big angel over there." Except there was more than one such monument. "Uh. That one. Or is it that one? Uh oh."

She rolled her jade eyes with a sigh. "Terrific. Walking around fondling statues ain't how I expected to spend my evening, man."

But as they drifted through the headstones on squishy-sounding footsteps, Soos' flashlight beam revealed a hole in the ground next to one of the angelic memorials. "Hey, dude! The dead are rising! Check out the open grave!"

"Soos, I swear to god, I am in no mood for jo—hold on..." she said, trailing off as they got closer to the opening. "Stairs? What—oh, crap, someone beat us to it! What do we do?"

Instinctively, they went around the other side of the statue to hide while Soos produced his new phone. "Call for backup!" He dialed Summer first, only for the call to fail. "I guess red is still underground. Oh well, Winter next." But before he could, the phone's screen suddenly went dark. "...um." He tapped at it a few times. "Okay, good news and bad news. The bad news is I don't think this thing likes rainwater. The good news is we can still use yours!"

"Yeah, uh, about that," she said, chuckling nervously and patting at her jeans. "I... forgot mine. That's why I had to ask you what time it was. Sorry. I've been kinda stressed out."

"Oh. Huh." He scratched under his cap in search of an idea. "We may need a new plan."

"They said the chamber has an alarm system that warns the Sheriff. He shoulda been here by now, right?" Her eyes lit up. "There's no point in standin' around, he'll catch us before we even get in the door. Besides, if he's not on the way he might already be in there. What have we got to lose?"

Soos nodded a little. "Sure, I guess that makes sense. 'Kay, ladies first!"

"What a gentleman. Let's rock." She dashed around and entered the passageway, thankful to get out of the rain. After pausing so Soos and his light could catch up, they moved down the corridor. "Hope there aren't any other traps," she muttered, kicking some of the spent darts aside. The tunnel at the end presented another problem; she could see no way back up for the handyman if they slid down. "Can you make it back, man? I've only got one hatchet to climb with."

He moved over to the hole and poked his head in. It became clear that the tunnel wasn't quite round enough to accommodate him as he poked around. "Honestly, dude, I'm a little too  _generous_  to fit, if you get me," he said, pulling out and retreating. "Tell you what; I'll keep watch and yell down if anyone's coming. You do the spider-lumberjack thing, see what we got goin' on, and come back. We'll go from there."

She nodded at him, drawing her hatchet. "Fair enough. Okay, be right back. Watch my six." He tossed her his flashlight and issued a salute. "Thanks."

Traversing the tube wasn't much of an issue, at least in the flatter spots. Whenever she faced a drop, she'd jam her weapon into the soil and climb. Once at the bottom, however, another source of light became discernible – as did voices. Wendy killed the flashlight and crawled forward, lying prone in the opening to the chamber. Three people in hooded crimson robes were visible, talking to someone else around a corner.

"What the..." she breathed, inching nearer. She stowed her hatchet to avoid making noise and got to her feet, using the objects and bookshelves as cover to close more of the distance. While their hushed words still defied her ears, the tenor of one voice was clear enough: Preston Northwest, whose speech came from around a tall shelf. Bits and pieces of the conversation began to make it through.

"I don't like using that thing on kids," one of the hooded figures said. Definitely a he – and vaguely familiar too, Wendy realized. "You gotta get us some more help. We're losing ground."

"I know, I know. I always assumed it would get to her someday, but..." She heard him clear his throat. "Winter and Summer Weiss may well be the key. Are we clear on the 'do not provoke' list?"

"We'll make sure Ivan gets the details. All the funky stuff we found on patrol last night got stored down here like you wanted, but at this rate we're gonna need a bigger hole."

This was a different voice, one Wendy also knew right away. "The weird little newspaper reporter guy?" she mouthed to herself. "What the fu-" As she edged up, trying to get a better vantage point, her knee bumped into and knocked over a globe. It bounced noisily several times on the stone floor. "Oh boy."

Their lanterns were pointed at her in a flash, bright enough to blind. Before her eyes could adjust, they were around her, standing in a semi-circle so she couldn't escape without having to push past. The hooded ones were all different sizes. One was quite rotund. "Easy now," Preston warned the others. "She's on the list."

"What list?" Wendy asked angrily. "Who are you?" Their hoods bore a bright red symbol – an eye with an 'x' through it. Each time she stooped to look under one, its bearer would shy away to hide their face. "Answer me!"

"How'd she know about this place?" the big one asked.

"I came to talk to my mom and I found a hole in the friggin' ground with stairs," she lied, hugging herself as the adrenaline began to flow. "What is this place, man?"

"Poor, poor child. It's going to be just fine, I promise," Toby said, his tone only agitating her further. The large man drew a strange device from beneath his garment. It looked vaguely like a gun, with glass tubing for a barrel and another glass item above the grip.

"Are you insane?" Preston hissed. "Put that away!"

"She can't know about us," he countered. Wendy was able to place his voice now – Bud Gleeful. That forced a new chill down her spine. "Besides, it won't hurt a bit! Not like this is her first rodeo, so to speak."

"That was then, this is now! You're going to get us all killed!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" she asked, stepping once toward the portly man. Being accosted by a red-clad cult with a brass death ray would be a hard experience to forget, yet her mind had no such memory. "I don't remem-"

"Of course you don't, honey bear. That's the point! Now let me just set this to... say, an hour. That should do nicely – oh, and don't worry. We'll getcha home nice and safe." After turning a dial on the device, he pointed it at her forehead. "Hold her steady, fellas."

Horror flooded her mind, searing her heart with an icy blade. They'd robbed her, stolen from the one place that should have been safe. Should always have been safe. Now nothing made sense. Instinct took over as she wrenched her arm from Toby and the other figure while Bud tried to aim. "No! Get that thing away from me!"

He ignored her while giving a further order. "Dang it, I said hold her! If I aim wrong she's gonna be a vege—I mean... nothing bad will happen! I didn't say anything about comas!"

That was the final straw. She meant to draw her hatchet and kill them all, right then and there, but something else knocked them back as she raised her hand. Scattered across the chamber floor, they were still – breathing, but out cold. Wendy had no idea what had happened. She didn't stay to find out. After snatching the flashlight out of her pocket and diving back into the tunnel, she climbed like a girl possessed, desperate to get away.

And then she reached for her hatchet to scale a steep wall and found her hand was tingling furiously. Not with the fiery jabs of numbness. No, this was a sensation she had only felt once before – the cold, cheerful velvet of whatever power Winter used to help her fly with Soos and the kids, back on the night everything changed. It ran around her fingers, danced between her knuckles and pulsed with the beating of her heart.

Her brain stepped in, throwing out consciousness in favor of instinct to make sure she'd keep going. And go she did, traveling the rest of the way so fast she fell out of the tunnel and rolled a few feet. "Hey, hey! Uh, you don't sound so good," Soos greeted, helping her up. He flinched when she yanked her arm away. "What's up?"

"Is your phone w-working?"

He blinked at her breathy, terrified voice. "Hadn't checked. Why? I'm starting to freak out, dude. What happened?"

She lacked the strength for anything but terse demands. "Let's get out of here and try it. If it is, call Winter," she said, staring at her hand. The tingle was fading, but still there.

"Why, dude?"

Caught between that physical feeling and the one made by wondering just what  _else_  she should have remembered but didn't, Wendy was on the verge of tears. "Because my fucking life is falling apart."


	27. But Now I See

Summer waited politely at the elevator while Stan rushed about, checking switches and pressing buttons and staring at dials. She'd been watching him do this for half an hour – maybe longer. When he at last approached her after shutting down the portal, breathless and patting the sweat from his forehead, she greeted him with a cheerful "Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'm gonna be, I guess," he answered, moving by to enter the car and input the code to go up. "Sorry for the wait. I don't want your magic to do anything weird to the machines."

She nodded with a smile. "I sort of assumed. It's all right."

He tapped the arrow and off they went, their trip half as long as usual. The doors opened into a pitch black space, large enough to eat the elevator's light after a few feet and still keep its full dimensions a mystery. Summer put an end to that with a silvery lantern bristling with LEDs – which she made from a piece of paper pulled from the pocket of her black skirt. "I saw this on TV one night when I couldn't sleep. Let's see if it-" Her voice and steps both came to a halt as she left the car. Stan almost bumped into her back. "-works."

"Yeah. I shoulda mentioned that," he said apologetically after realizing what had stopped her. The area was rectangular with a low ceiling, carved right out of the dusky brown rock. At the far end stood an imposing, rusty metal door. Sticking from its center was a black circular handle. On the walls, written in red, were various warnings against opening that door. "So, yeah. Somebody'd been through here before, I guess. Must have been part of Project Apollyon. Wonder why they abandoned it but left all the equipment downstairs? Eh, then again, maybe it was too big to move..."

Summer was beginning to have second thoughts about the whole idea. "Are you sure we should be opening this?"

"Hey, you wanted to know what was up here," he reminded her with a tiny grin. "And so do I. But, you know, buyer beware and what not."

"I guess..." she said with a sigh. On reluctant footfalls she approached the door, floating the lantern up high to project its glow as far as possible. When she got close enough, she poked a wary finger at the black handle while scanning the area for magical threats. "It  _feels_  empty, but we've been fooled by rock before. I'm suspicious. To say the least."

Stan came up by her side, shoes scraping along the concrete floor. "Yeah, no kidding. Your call, kid. What do you wanna do?" he asked, gazing at the dusty steel.

Brow furrowed, she pulled her phone out of her other pocket and looked at the screen. The sense of dread provided by the room and its markings was bad enough, but the "no signal" message she saw made it even worse. "Hmm. Honestly, Stan, I'd feel better about this if my sister were here to back me up."

He flashed her a thumbs up and a smile. "I gotcha. Let's go topside and see what's going on, huh? I'm a little worried about the kids anyway. They didn't get that much sleep."

A quick elevator ride later, they were back in the gift shop, where Summer swiftly dialed the number and put the phone to her ear. "Oh?" she remarked, looking a little surprised.

Stan turned away from the vending machine when she made the noise. "What's up?"

She looked at the screen again. "It says the line is busy." A moment later, the phone started to ring. "And now Dipper is calling me."

He walked over just as she answered, face twisted with worry. "Great. I wonder what Mabel blew up this time."

* * *

"Summer! Hey!" Dipper said anxiously, barely able to keep a grip on his phone. The three of them were nearly to Winter's car when all hell had broken loose. "Okay, um, I know you just called Winter but we're kind of busy with her phone right now. Not gonna lie, we've got a little bit of a crisis."

"What crisis?"

"Are you talking to her now?" When he nodded, she motioned for him to raise his phone toward her. "Sister, meet us at the graveyard," the blue-eyed woman said loudly. "Something happened and they need our help."

Mabel, bouncing around with terror on the wet grass nearby, was trying to talk the redhead down. "I'm freaking out because you're freaking out! We're on our way! Breathe into your adorable hat or something!"

Winter's request was enough for Summer. "All right. I'll take Stan and a... shortcut. Are you on the way now?"

"Just about to get going," Dipper replied, staring at Winter as she curled the car up into a necklace and put it on. "Hey, what are you gonna do with the magic, man?"

"It can't follow us. People will see." She searched the forest for an answer. "I'm sorry, you'll have to go back into the lake for now. I'll return for you later." At her command, it shot off through the rain and disappeared underwater. Now her attention returned to the kids. "Hang up, close your umbrellas, and take a deep breath. We're going," she warned, gently grasping them with her mind.

How Dipper kept from screaming as her flight took them a thousand feet into the rainy night over the forest was anyone's guess. Neither of the Pines could keep their eyes open to see the beauty of Gravity Falls below due to the driving raindrops. After reaching town, they zipped around at a lower altitude until Winter got her bearings and could locate the cemetery. She found a white light amongst the headstones and moved toward it. Out of the darkness materialized Soos and Wendy – and the redhead was crumpled on the ground, apparently in pain. Dipper was the first to power through Winter's tingly grip and rush over. "Soos! Wendy! What happened?!"

"Best I got is dudes in crimson robes with hoods, a glass gun, Preston Northwest, and then weird hand numbness," Soos explained as Mabel and Winter walked nearer. "She won't give me the details beyond that."

"Gee, that's not ominous at all. So what did we just fly into?" Mabel asked, laughing nervously.

"No offense, Soos," the redhead mumbled while sitting up, "but I was waiting on an expert." She stared up at the blue-eyed woman, raising her right hand. "You feel it?"

Winter tilted her head a bit. "Feel what?"

Wendy's eyes got wide. "...seriously?"

"Cavalry's here!" Everyone looked over at Stan and Summer as they descended gently to the ground. Like everyone else that had flown, both were soaking wet. "This suit is ruined. So are these shoes. Heck, I think  _my face_  is ruined."

"Sister?" Summer jogged over and looked down at Wendy. The utter despair in her eyes was breathtaking. "What happened?"

Now that they were all around her, she managed the strength to stand up. "When we got here the secret passage was already open. I went down to see who was in there and found these guys in red robes talkin' to Pacifica's dad. They surrounded me... one of them had this weird gun thing he was gonna erase my memory with, but something happ—no, not something. I happened." She took a deep breath, staring at her right hand. "I knocked 'em all out with magic and climbed out. What else can I say?"

"Well, I'm glad you es— _what_?" Dipper exclaimed, dumbfounded.

Winter took her hand and examined it more closely. "You used magic?"

"I guess. I know it tingled. Like that weird feeling I had when I flew with you guys the night we talked to Wilhelm and found out about the portal."

"Guess you really did take after your dad," Stan said, looking away. "Uh... sorry? Don't really know what to say right now."

"Dudes, they might still be down there," Soos interrupted, thumbing over his shoulder at the open passage. "We were keepin' watch so they wouldn't get away."

"What if there's another way out? They could already be gone," Summer said, mostly thinking aloud.

"I doubt it. That's a real conspicuous door to leave open if you've got another way to move around." Stan pushed through the gaggle and approached the entrance. "Nobody does... whatever they were gonna do to one of my employees. Winter, Summer, you're with me. Soos, you stay with the kids. Take 'em back to your truck or something."

"Wait, no!" Dipper yelled, starting after them. "We're on the same team, remember?!" Mabel added nothing, but went after her brother.

"Yeah, and I'm puttin' you on the bench! Now do what I asked you!" His harsh tone was enough to cease their movements.

Just before he could think of something to yell back, Wendy got his attention and motioned him over. "Huh? What?"

She was crying again in Soos' arms. "They said they'd used it on me before but I didn't remember them doing anything. What if they've used it on all of us? How many times have we had our brains robbed, man?" After wiping at her eyes a few times, she spat an angry noise. "Crap, I forgot to tell 'em who I saw. What's-his-face was one of the robed guys. The weird little reporter?"

"Toby? The one we thought killed Wax Stan?" Mabel said with a blink. "Are you yanking my chain, Wendy Corduroy?"

"No way, shorty. And Gideon's dad was there, too. I swear."

Both twins' jaws dropped wide open. "You have  _got_  to be kidding me!" Dipper yelled, throwing his hands to the sky. "What could he possibly have to do—you know what? Screw it. Let's just get out of the rain."

"Excellent idea, dudes. Truck's unlocked. Follow me." Soos led the pack through the graveyard, shining his light around. "Wendy's got a point, though. I wonder if I'm forgettin' stuff I shouldn't. I mean, besides where I left my keys this morning. Seems like a pretty minor thing to blame on a memory thief, right?" His weak laugh did nothing to lift their spirits. "Yeah, I'm not feelin' it either."

"I don't wanna think about this right now, Soos," Mabel warned grumpily. "If I do, I'm gonna get paranoid. Do you want us  _both_  to be paranoid all the time? No. No, you do not. You can't handle my crazy, son. I got enough to deal with without being afraid of the people around me." Her eyes went wide. "Frick. It already happened!"

"Yeah, yeah," Dipper said quickly, cutting her off before she could get too wound up again. "I mean, geez, watching Winter act like a fool was en—oh. Speaking of that, you still gotta apologize."

"I know, I know, gosh. Hey, Wendy! You okay? Why are you holding your arm like that? Did you get hurt?"

Wendy had it positioned against her chest as if it was in a sling, fingers curled into a tight fist. "No, I just—I still feel it crawling around under my skin. Like, I don't even know how to describe it. I mean, not like it's painful, it's just... I dunno."

"I swear I was kidding about us being wizards."

The redhead tried her best to smile at him. "I know, Soos." She turned her eyes to the truck up ahead and sighed. "I'm freezing. How long should we give them before barging in and pretending to be heroes?"

Dipper tapped at his phone, already having a similar idea. "Twenty minutes should be enough. I hope they remember everything when they get back." He set the alarm with one final tap and put it back in his vest. "Ugh, my head." A look at everyone else made him realize they were in equally poor shape. "Okay, who else wants an aspirin?"

* * *

"We don't like guns, Stan. I hope you know what you're doing."

He smirked at Winter as they all crept forward toward the tunnel opening; he himself was leading the charge, both hands clasped around a fourth-generation, flat black Glock 17. While his nerves were steady, he shivered with wet cold. "Oh, trust me, I know exactly what I'm doin'. You two ever shot one before?"

"We've been shot  _at_  a whole bunch, if that counts," a smiling Summer replied. "Ready to fly down?"

"Not really, but let's just go anyway."

They weaved a silent, careful path down the curvy tube and slipped out into the chamber without a sound. There they found the people in question, still sprawled out and unconscious on the floor – except for Preston, who was just beginning to stir. "Unnnnnh?" he droned, struggling to sit up. "What happened? Where did-" Upon seeing Stan, his gun, and the identical twins, he froze. "Miss Weiss. Miss Weiss. And Mister Pines, for whatever reason. Allow me a moment to explain."

"You'd better," Summer said, her arms folded. "Wendy called us for help. Who are they?"

"Ah, well..." Preston glanced over as Bud came to. "We've been caught, Bud. Stop worrying about your hood."

"By whom, pray tell?" he asked sharply, revealing his face in order to see. "Well. Our resident spirit whisperers and local con-man! What a surprise this is." The memory eraser was by his hip on the floor – in a flash he snatched it up and pointed it at them. "I didn't even know you owned a firearm, Stanford. Put that thing away before I make you forget how to use it."

"I don't think so, Gleeful," he said, pointing the gun at him in kind. "Look, I wouldn't make these ladies mad. You got no idea what you're up against. Also that robe looks so stupid on you."

"It's a little too late to avoid making me mad." Winter lifted a finger and magically nudged the brass device from Bud's grip before storming over and picking it up. She then grabbed him by the collar. "What is this and what did you try to do to Wendy?"

Bud wiggled unhappily in her grip. "What the—let me go!" He blinked down at her arm. "And can you get me a membership to your gym? I could stand to lose a few pounds."

Gnashing teeth, Winter tossed the gun back to Stan so she'd have a free hand with which to make a fist. "That's not an answer," she warned, aiming a punch at his nose.

"Miss Weiss, please!" Preston begged, rushing over to her side. "Let him go. I'll explain. No need for anyone to lose their temper."

Glaring daggers at him, she shoved Bud away and stepped back. Meanwhile, Stan and Summer took aim at the other two hooded figures as they began to awaken. " _Someone_  better start talking. I thought we had an agreement, Mister Northwest." She glanced over as Toby lifted his hood. "You? My sister called you cute and you repay her by attacking one of our friends?"

"Our bad. Isn't that what the kids say these days? Oh, it's been so long since I was cool," he said while hiding his eyes.

"Ladies and... gentleman, these people are a portion of the Blind Eye Society," Preston said, motioning at them. The last to lift their hood was a brown-haired woman with dark skin and black stud earrings. "These aren't the only members, as you might have guessed."

"And they do what, exactly?" Summer asked, head tilted curiously.

"We are the only people standin' between the insanity in this valley and the peaceful existence of the citizens of Gravity Falls," Bud explained huffily. He was still dusting himself off from Winter's assault. "That device in Stanford's hand is a memory eraser. Someone sees something weird, we use that and suck it right out of their brains! It's as if it never even happened."

Stan lowered the muzzle of his gun – but not much. "Oh, well... you've got their okay to do this stuff, right? 'Cause I'm no saint, but this whole memory-wiping business creeps me out a little – and that is a  _high_  bar to clear."

"Well, not technically, no..."

"You just steal their memories, then?" Winter snapped. Her sister emitted a faint "uh oh" and moved up closer.

He backed up a little, hands raised. "Now now, that's not a very nice way of putting things. We free them from memories they don't want! I mean, really, would you want to be haunted by a floating pink brain with eyeballs and tentacles that lives in a freezer?"

"That doesn't give you the right to invade their minds!"

This was the most emotional Stan – or Summer – had ever seen the blue-eyed woman. "Please shut him up before my sister kills him," she asked Preston politely.

"You read my mind, pardon the awkward choice of words," he said with a nod, straightening his tie. "Bud, stop talking. You're a salesman, not an orator."

"Oh, buzz off. We're doing what's necessary to keep this place afloat while you sit in that ivory tower of yours. Why don't you come along one night and see all the fires we put out? Or are you afraid of what you might find?"

"Wait. Necessary?"

So sharp was Winter's tone that  _everyone_  in the chamber looked her way. Summer moved quickly, placing herself between them and her. "No," she whispered. "I'm here. Deep breath."

After obliging her with a lengthy inhalation, Winter again seemed calm. Her sister stepped aside after a moment of suspicious staring so she could speak. "We're taking that device – and I'm telling Colonel Greer what you're doing."

"Colonel who?" Toby asked, fidgeting nervously.

"Never mind that for now." Preston next struggled to find a gentle way to frame his disagreement, eventually ending up with "I don't think going to the military is a good idea."

"I will not tolerate this. I don't care about what morals they  _think_  they're upholding," she paused to turn her venomous gaze back to Bud, "nor whatever peace they claim to protect."

Stan, meanwhile, was examining the strange weapon. "Huh... some of this looks familiar," he murmured to himself. "It's almost like... eh." He looked back up and waved his hand. "Hey! Hey! I got an idea. And... Gleeful, seriously, don't look at me like that. Just listen. I may sort of agree that the town at large can't handle this stuff, you know? And if everyone started talking about it then the government would get involved in a bigger way, and I sure as heck don't want that. If you're gonna be mind-screwing people... ask first. Give 'em an explanation. I built a whole business on disclaimers and fine print. Trust me, it works."

Summer regarded him with a curious eye. "What are you saying, Stan?"

"I'm sayin' let 'em work as long as they don't just go around thought-snatching without getting a 'yes' first. The folks that wanna stay asleep can stay asleep. The ones that don't, well..." he trailed off for a moment until his eyes lit up. "Lotta people already trust you two with the paranormal, right?" he asked, waving at the twins. "Well, same deal. They can come to you for help in handlin' the truth. Maybe, just maybe, some of 'em will be willing to help."

Bud was genuinely stunned at what he'd heard. "Stanford Pines, I didn't know you carried such ideals in that granite heart of yours."

"Ideals? Ha! I've been a con-man for about as long as you've drawn breath. And I've learned you don't sell somebody something – they gotta buy it. People want a choice. Give 'em that, and they'll eat outta your hands. Mostly. Sometimes they don't like the choices and try to punch you."

Winter, as usual, refuted his thoughts with frigid efficiency. "I still don't like the idea of amnesia-on-demand. Also, what proof do you have that your device has no side-effects?"

Bud laughed a little and shrugged. "None! It ain't like we can test it out, sweetie."

She tapped her foot in thought for a moment. "Perhaps you may get a chance. I'm still going to Colonel Greer. Perhaps you could obtain official support. Or you might get shot. Either way, the way you do things is about to change."

Summer smirked with the image. "Hmm, Colonel Greer and a used car salesman? What strange bedfellows."

"Beggin' your pardon, but what do y'all have to do with the government, again?"

Preston felt safe enough to intervene. "You'll know when and if you need to, Bud. Now, I expect you'll present these concerns to Ivan if you want my continued support. As for the Colonel, I'll see to it that a meeting is arranged between all interested parties as soon as possible." He focused on the society members next. "Apologize for what happened to Wendy."

"We're sorry," they said, with varying degrees of fear and sincerity.

He nodded with approval. "Good. And  _try_  to remember that the list of off-limits personnel is binding. The next time your rear ends need pulling out of the fire I might not be around."

"What list?"

"The list I called them here to present." He produced a leaf of paper from beneath his dark blue suit jacket and began to read it out loud. "Summer Weiss, Winter Weiss, Wendy Corduroy, Jesus "Soos" Ramirez, Stanford Pines, Mabel Pines, and Maxwell "Dipper" Pines. These individuals are not to be approached, abducted, or otherwise contacted by the Blind Eye. While I've got you, is there anyone else we should add?"

"Maxwell?" Summer repeated with a grin. "How interesting."

Winter rubbed her chin for a moment. "Not that I can think of. How can you prove to us that you'll leave them alone if you're erasing their memories?"

"I can produce proof on request," he replied simply. "I know it's difficult, but I ask you to trust me. As unsavory as the idea is, the Society plays a key role in maintaining the sanity of Gravity Falls." Now his gaze went to Stan. "Mister Pines? The eraser, if you would."

He made a face at Preston's outstretched hand before relinquishing it. "Fine. Any of you nuts get within a hundred feet of those kids and I'll..."

"You have my word. And a Northwest's word is his bond."

"We'll see its worth soon enough, I suppose," Winter remarked quietly. "Before you go... did you have them make Pacifica forget? Summer and I couldn't help but notice how she acted. And have you heard from the Pentagon about the..." she hesitated, unwilling to betray too much with so many strangers around, "...other thing."

His stately face twisted with sadness. "Yes. It was this or sedatives. I did the best I could." In a second more he regained his composure. "And no, I'm still waiting. Another question for the Colonel, I guess." With that he excused himself along with the Society, departing up a staircase in the rear of the chamber the sisters hadn't seen during their last time here.

"Well, this just got extremely weird," Stan said, holstering his weapon. "And I thought I was up to date with the secrets around here. How good do you have to be to hide something in this town from  _me_?" His face suddenly dropped. "I've been shot with that thing, haven't I. I'm gonna stand over here and succumb to intense paranoia for a second."

Summer tried to reassure him with some pats on the shoulder. "Poor Stan. At least it's not magical?"

"You're right. Someone built that thing. I want to know who." Winter noticed a shelf nearby. Papers lay scattered on the floor at its base. "That's where we found the documents last time. I'll go back up and let the others know we're all right. You two start searching."

* * *

The rain had stopped by the time Stan and Summer emerged from the chamber. He had a few files in hand, but like the War Department summary the latter had seen on her last trip here, these papers were heavily censored. Not knowing how else to close the passageway, she went with brute strength, pushing it closed with her bare hands. The old man watched her work in awe. "Geez. I'm surprised Soos hasn't hit on you yet."

She giggled a bit. "He's probably too afraid of my sister."

"That's a good point. She seems pretty scary."

As they moved toward the street, they saw Winter had unpacked her car and parked it in front of Soos' truck. They were standing around it – and their conversation soon became audible. "What do I do? Am I supposed to go home?" Wendy asked, still favoring her right hand. "I mean, I don't feel it anymore, but I am freaked out six ways to Sunday over here."

Mabel rocked back and forth on her heels. "Hold on, hold on, let's go over this again. I saw someone get eaten by an island, Gideon's dad has been stealing people's memories, you're using friggin' magic and—oh! They're back!"

The group came forward to meet them. "Hey, kids," Stan greeted. "Who saw who get eaten by a what now?"

Winter raised her hand. "I let the island in the lake eat me because I wanted to... investigate. Mabel didn't take the sight very well."

"Sister!" Summer stomped over, fists clenched. "What were you thinking?!"

"That's what I said!" Mabel agreed loudly. "If she gets iced on our watch, you're gonna kill us! Literally."

"No she wouldn't. And I'm sorry. I keep forgetting that my definition of fear isn't the same as everyone else's," Winter admitted, slicking back her hair with both hands. "I'll be more careful next time."

Dipper shook his head and sighed. "All right. We've been over it. Let's move on and figure out who's gonna ride with who before it starts raining again."

"I gotta go back to the Shack anyway! All you silly Pines folks can ride with me," Soos said with a smile. After some muffled discussion, they agreed. "Cool, cool. Just, uh, somebody help me clean the pizza boxes out of the back. Wendy, how about you? Always room in the bed."

Wendy responded first with a half-shrug before looking up with a frown. "Thanks, but nah. I'll just catch a ride with these two."

"Suit yourself. Hoo boy, I'm gonna sleep good tonight," Mabel yawned. "Unless Bill—oh dang it, I can't do anything anymore without being afraid!"

"I've got some sleeping pills you could use."

Dipper cocked a brow at Stan's offer. "Um, isn't that illegal?"

He cracked a grin. "Because I'm such an upstanding citizen. It's just an option. You kids need your rest." He looked over at the identical twins and nodded. "Let's forget cracking that door for the night. I'll look over this stuff and see how it fits in with what I've got. See you two in the morning?"

"Of course!" Summer replied brightly. "Goodbye, Stan. And Soos. And Mabel. And...  _Maxwell_." She burst out laughing at the noise he made. "You sound like a kitten!"

"Th-that's not funny!" he shot back, flush with embarrassment. "Man, I haven't been called that since third grade."

The blue-eyed woman rolled her eyes with a smile. "You two get some sleep. And don't worry about the Society, they've been told you're off limits. All of you."

In a few moments more they were gone, the handyman's truck but a red and yellow glow disappearing into the misty night. Wendy was so lost in her own thoughts, she failed to notice the twins going to their car before Summer called her name. "Huh? Oh, right. Sorry. I'm comin'."

Winter had just opened the driver's door. "I'm not sure where you live. You'll have to give me directions." But the redhead failed to respond, instead shuffling past and getting in. "Wendy?"

Only after everyone was in the car did she say anything. "I'm not sure I want to go home, to be perfectly honest," she admitted, rubbing under her hat. "I don't know what the hell I wanna do right now."

"I think you should sleep. You sound exhausted."

She was having none of Winter's friendly advice. "How can I sleep when there's stuff inside me that I don't understand? What if it hurts me? What if hurts my family?" Involuntarily, she hunched forward and broke down again. "I can't even trust my own brain anymore, man!"

"Oh, we know the feeling," Summer assured her, ignoring the confused look she got in return. "Maybe you'd feel better if we explained what magic is? How it works?"

"Uh, well..." Wendy folded her arms and sank back into the seat. "It's not like you guys could make me any _more_  paranoid, I guess. All right, but let's go to your house while I decide what to do. No point in sittin' here."


	28. Bellissima

The redhead wouldn't last that long, especially after Winter's detour to the lake to retrieve the magic and another to take it to the pit. Wendy had only the strength to explain – lie, really – to her father about her whereabouts with Summer's phone, after which she fell asleep on their couch. The blue-eyed woman realized this was a prime opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with her sister, but struggled with an opening.

Fortunately, she didn't need one. Summer beckoned her to the kitchen. "Are you all right?" she asked lowly. "You seemed really bothered back there."

"I..." Now she struggled for different reasons, but her sister was infinitely patient. "You know why. Our memory was already erased once. I don't particularly like that sort of thing."

Summer nodded once, then left her head down slightly in thought. "I know, but in this case maybe... maybe it's good they don't remember."

"Which is why I didn't take the gun."

"We could have used it on ourselves." She looked up, smiling, but with tears in her eyes. "I sure could use it." Winter responded only with silence. She could almost feel her bristling through the dark. "I know what you're going to say."

Which didn't stop her from saying it, nor from grabbing Summer in a tight hug. "What we've done, and what was done to us, are part of who we are. No matter how bad it seems... I don't think it's right to try and run from who we are."

"Hmm," Summer mumbled, her mind drifting back to their home. "You know, if you'd done what you wanted about Spring and Autumn, you'd be their mother and not their sister."

"Yes, I realized," she said, pulling away. "How very awkward that would have been. I mean, beyond everything else. I wish they were here, but... at least we put them to rest as best we could."

"I agree!" she said, sounding chipper once more. "Oh, the snow must be over their headstones by now. Unless our friend is doing a lot of shoveling..."

"Knowing her, I bet a snowflake hasn't touched those graves." Winter crossed her arms lightly and turned away. "Mabel is afraid of you. I suspect Dipper is too, but he'll never admit it."

Her cheer evaporated in an instant. "I'm not surprised. I just... I never thought I'd have to kill again."

"I wouldn't be too down on myself if I were you. You killed a few soldiers in self-defense. I shattered a country because I wanted revenge."

"Oh, sister. Who wouldn't want revenge?" Now it was Summer doing the hugging. "I'm fine. It just brought back bad memories. They started to scream. I thought my dream was coming true."

"It wouldn't have been your fault."

"It would have been close enough."

They stared at each other for ages before Wendy's snoring ushered them back to a more immediate topic. "Just don't...  _bottle_ , please," Winter implored quietly. "Talk to me. Make me talk to you, if you must."

Summer nodded again, wearing a serious smile. "All right. Now then, what about Wendy?"

"Let her sleep while she can. We may as well catch a nap ourselves. Our lecture can wait until morning. Oh, and..." she trailed off with a sigh. "It wouldn't work on us."

"The gun?" Sadness crept into Summer's smile as she allowed the eternal choir in her head to sing a little louder. "I know. There are too many people up here."

* * *

For a nanosecond Wendy was caught in the space between sleep and alertness, a place where everything was normal before her brain remembered how to think. The moment she sat up and saw Summer reading a book at the other end of the couch, reality crashed down upon her. "Ah, man." The confused look she got forced an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I just remembered last night." Her eyes went down to her right hand. "It's not tingling."

"That's... good?" Summer honestly had no idea, and her inflection showed it. "I still don't understand why we can't feel it when it's in a human. I didn't feel that soldier's magic either."

Wendy hadn't heard about this. "Huh?"

"Oh." After setting her book aside, she cleared her throat and prepared a condensed version of the event. "After you left here that day, we split up and traveled into the woods to look for weapons from the journals. Mabel and Dipper came with me. We were attacked by soldiers using magic, so I killed most of them. Winter captured one that got away from me and found out she was using magic on us."

Her matter-of-fact explanation left the redhead staggered. "You—you  _killed_  them? Good lord, no wonder they freaked out when I asked what happened."

"Hmm." Summer glanced around, thinking. "Oh, did anyone tell you we're aliens? I'm just making sure. You weren't in on that meeting."

This time, Wendy didn't seem quite as surprised. "Nah, but honestly? I kinda figured. I mean, flying? Magical shifty-changy stuff? I didn't think you were from around here – I just didn't wanna bring it up and cause more trouble."

"Thank you. We've got enough of that as it is, I think."

Silence fell as Wendy finished waking up. She squinted at the bright sunshine outside. "So, what am I now?"

Summer's answer was quick and absolute – so quick, and so absolute, that she surprised herself. "You are you."

"But I'm diff-"

She wouldn't hear it, raising her hand for quiet. "No, it was always there. You just didn't know. Now you know. That's all that's really changed."

"Huh. Fair enough." Wendy stared at her hand again. "What is this stuff, then?"

"We gave a basic explanation to Stan and the kids, but I guess I should give a fuller one to-" she hesitated, seeing her sister walk down the hallway. "Or we should, I should say."

"Don't mind me," Winter replied, zipping up the hoodie Mabel had seen her wearing on the day they first met. "Go ahead."

"Okay." After a moment of thought, her smile became an annoyed frown. "You did that on purpose. Stop teasing me."

"I told you you should have gone to that second class," she teased again, grinning wryly as she sat down. "How is your hand?"

She was still holding it close to her stomach, but she tried to smile anyway. "Fine, fine. I can't wait to hear this."

Winter settled into a vaguely studious pose and got to it. "Mm. There are a lot of theories swirling around back home about what magic is, and where it came from. What we know is that it acts as an extension of our will. As for what it is, well, the most popular idea is that it's a result of a parasite that grew alongside our species."

"A parasite?" she asked, brows raised. "Oh boy, that makes me feel a  _lot_  better."

She shrugged a little. "It's just a theory. Believe it or not, there are worse ones."

"Riiiiight, let's not go there. How does it work?"

"Good question. Nobody knows."

She stared at Winter hopelessly. "Dude, this isn't doing a whole lot for my confidence."

"I'm being straight with you."

Summer decided it was time to take the edge off. "But there is good news. Magic won't hurt you. It might change a few things, though, depending on how strong it is."

Wendy swallowed and stared, mind racing with terrible possibilities. "Like what?"

"Depends, really. Your appearance might change slightly. Injuries might heal a little faster. The problem is we already know magic and matter don't get along well here, so even a small amount might have... larger effects than we would see with a similar case back home," Summer said with a tiny frown.

"This talk is not helping. It is not helping at  _all."_

Winter turned to look at her. "We're trying to take out as much of the uncertainty as possible. The bottom line is it won't try to hurt you."

Her sister perked up again and interjected happily. "And you can talk to it! Sort of."

"Wh-what?" Wendy's eyes dropped to her hand. "How?"

"You've already done it. When you felt threatened, it reacted to help you. You don't really need words to communicate... I mean, you might need them at first, just because it may be easier for you," Summer explained gently. "Magic is just as alive as you are. It might be scared right now too, actually. It's really like... it's like having a friend that never goes away." Suddenly she looked off, her face going blank. Then her eyes went to Winter. "You were right all along."

"Huh?" Their expressions – somber, yet somehow happy at the same time – stopped her from prying. "Never mind, your business. So are you sayin' I can change stuff into stuff now too?"

Winter shook her head slowly. "No, that sort of ability is limited to an extremely powerful few among our race. Based on what you said it seems you have telekinesis at least. Depending on how strong your magic is, you may be able to lift yourself and fly as we do."

"Dude, that is fuc—sorry. I mean that is freakin'  _awesome_ ," she replied, finally bearing a genuine grin. "I've always had dreams about flying. Now I might actually be able to do it?"

"It's possible! That's the spirit. Embrace who you are. Like I should have," Summer said, though her cheer vanished by the last sentence.

"Okay. I kinda do feel better now. So it wouldn't like, make me go insane and kill anyone, right?" When they wouldn't answer her right away, she began to panic. "Um. Guys?"

"Too much magic in one person can make them mentally unstable. I doubt you need to worry. If you had enough to show mental side effects, you would probably be unrecognizable," Winter replied.

"But you kind of said you don't know how much this stuff will affect me. Even if it's just a little bit."

Winter opened her mouth but quickly found there was no way around that logic. "Mm. True." The others looked at her hips as her phone began to ring in her hoodie pocket. She deftly plucked it out and put it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Hey! Winter, right?" Stan. A rather anxious-sounding Stan, in fact. "Uh, short notice and all, but could you two come over? Right now?"

Her face screwed up with worry as she stood. Summer and Wendy did the same. "Yes, why?"

"There's a lot more in the journals than I—uh, Mabel, is your brother gonna be okay?"

"He's fine," they heard her say in the background. "He's just a little done right now. Again. You know how he gets."

"Come on, Dipper!" Wendy encouraged loudly. "Get it together, man!"

"I don't think he heard—nope, he did, never mind. That worked. Like, a lot. Thanks!"

Summer found it funny enough to giggle, but Winter was all business. "Very well. We're on our way."

* * *

They went in Summer's car – after all, this was a chance to try the garnet red Audi A6 she'd gotten from the conveniently-owned Northwest dealership across town. With her enthusiastic driving they were at the Mystery Shack in no time. Stan and Dipper were on the gift shop porch waiting for them. "Guys! This is insane! The journals are... I don't even know where to start!" the boy said in one breath as they walked up. Then he took a second to stare at Summer's new wheels. "Must be freaking nice, man."

Stan had roughly the same look. "You ain't kiddin'. If that old crate over there weren't Stanley's I'd buy a new ride myself." He ushered them all inside while producing a leaf of paper from inside his blazer. Mabel, already waiting there, waved hello. "All right. I was up late last night lookin' over what we got from the cemetery, and..."

Despite his tone, Wendy couldn't help being distracted by Mabel's sweater. It was a complicated, rainbow construction with "Everything Is Fine" emblazoned across the front. Each letter was a different color. "Dang, man. How long did that take you to make?"

"I cope with needles and yarn. Don't judge me."

"Anyway!" Stan said gruffly, "I found a handwritten note in the margins of this page." He handed it to Winter.

"UV-A 2 C the truth?" she read out loud. "What is this?"

Dipper took over from there, pacing around the room and clicking a pen furiously. "UV-A. Long wave ultraviolet light!"

Mabel offered a little more clarification. "He knows so much about UV rays 'cause mom is afraid the sun wants to kill us."

"It does! It's a glowing ball of cancer!" He had to shake himself back to the point. "Anyway, 2 C... to see the truth. Then I realized, wait, this handwriting looks familiar. It's the same person that wrote the journals! So I grabbed one of those black lights we used at the party, right? There's invisible writing in those things!"

Stan shook his head at the boy's enthusiasm. "Most of which was  _stupidly_  creepy – stuff like 'can't sleep' repeated over and over. Journal three had something interesting though: there's a secret bunker in the woods. Probably worth checking out."

"Right. The big thing is this means someone with access to those documents – or, well, that chamber I guess – wrote the journals!" Dipper concluded forcefully. "Ugh! Who could it be?"

"Actually, kid, that might  _not_  be the biggest thing," Stan said as he motioned to Winter. "Read the normal text."

"Mm?" She did, eyes darting back and forth. A few references to Apollyon lay within, censored into abject uselessness, but something else caught her eye. "What is Project Bellissima?"

"That ain't the only one. Keep going."

After a second, she found another item near the bottom. "Project Briathos... that seems familiar."

"Oh! Isn't that what Colonel Greer called our magical soldier friend?" Summer wondered out loud. Everyone looked over as Soos entered. "Oh, hello."

He waved a greeting. "'Sup, guys? What'd I miss? Anything serious?"

"Magical soldier fr-" Dipper's heart jumped into his throat. "It all makes sense now. They succeeded. They made—they're  _making_  super-soldiers. But how?"

The handyman's face went blank. "I'm gonna go with 'yes' on the serious."

Wendy leaned back against the counter with a sigh. "Dude, I was right the first time. There's more than one portal. How else would it be happening? It's not like someone's breaking in and using  _ours_."

"Then that means—but then there's—we had control of the magic leakage but now we don't and..."

Mabel sensed her brother's building panic and acted quickly, smacking him on the back of the head. "Don't you dare do this again! Let's handle what we can handle, okay? Take a breath."

"Good advice," Winter said with a nod before looking back at Stan. "What else did you find?"

"Some part of Bellissima used Apollyon assets – they were working here. Found a note about a 'basement level 2 facility'. I'm willing to bet whatever's behind that door is what they're talkin' about. I'm ready to crack that sucker if you are," he said, tugging his lapels. "As soon as the kids are a safe distance away and all."

"Like heck!" Mabel snapped. "I'm in it to win it! Uh, on second thought that doesn't really fit – but my point stands! I'm going with you!"

"Wait, what am I supposed to say to your parents if you get killed?!"

"Don't argue with me, old man!"

"I'm in too," Wendy said with a tired smile. "I mean, hey. I'm a magic user now. You might need me."

"Let's roll," Soos agreed, producing a flashlight from his tool belt. "Actually, lemme get a snack first."

Dipper stepped aside so he could get to the vending machine. "Fine. Whatever. At least I'll have something to think about besides the end of the world. Let me get some stuff from our room first."

The items he retrieved turned out to be the black light and two height-altering crystals. After Winter made him and Mabel a new set of flashlights, Stan hung the closed sign on the door outside and moved to the vending machine. A few elevator trips later they stood before the ominous vault, flooding the chamber with all manner of lights. The girl's face twisted at the red writing. "Greeeeeat. Nothing could possibly be wrong in there!"

"Hey, kill your lights. Let's see if anything's hidden on the walls," Dipper said as he switched on the black light. A cursory sweep, beginning from the elevator and moving around the left side of the area, yielded nothing – until he got close to the door. A fluorescent message appeared, scrawled in tiny letters. "'Look at what they've done to her'? Done to who?" No other hidden words were nearby. "I don't get it. Let's go to the other side."

Another message faded in as he walked past the door. This one was on the metal itself. "'Please find some way to give her mercy'," Mabel read. "Anyone else getting a bad feeling about this? 'Cause I sure freaking am."

All eyes went to the door. "Dudes... is there someone in there?" Soos asked, slowly approaching the black handle. "What should we do?"

"We're going in," Stan said. "You kids get behind us. Wendy, that includes you." Along with the handyman and the identical twins, he approached the door. "Ladies, how you wanna do this?"

"I'll remove the door," Summer advised him. "Sister, if anything comes after us..."

"It will be vaporized," she confirmed, her hands suddenly enveloped by sparkling black fire.

"And I'll hit it with my wrench!" Soos added. "It's heavy. Should do the job."

Dipper and Mabel switched back to their regular lights. "Ready!" he called, shining his at the door. "On three! One, two, three!"

The word barely left his lips when Summer snapped her fingers, crushing the door into a decorative paperweight that she snatched out of the air to keep it from making a racket. Winter advanced inside, Stan and Soos shining flashlights through the opening as they walked with her. Nothing emerged. After a few feet of walking, they noticed the room was rectangular, somewhat narrow, and  _very_  long. The air's odor was the same as the other chamber – a musty, flat smell of earth. "Seems clear," she said after a few moments, dismissing her flames. "Put some light on the other end."

Wendy wasn't far behind, having put herself between the kids and the unknown as a second line of defense. "Guys, hold up. I hear something."

Everyone froze. A gentle sound became clear, like scratching but with a squishy component. "What is... what the heck?" Dipper whispered. "Is it moles? Is something digging? Do moles even live in Oregon?

"It sounds like someone playing with clay," Mabel surmised, clinging to his side like glue. Her magic flashlight was at the ready.

For Summer and Winter, the noise was much easier to discern – and much harder to deal with given all the memories to which it was attached. Stan finally pointed his light toward the other end of the space, where it dimly illuminated a cage. Movement was visible through the metal wire grid. They longer they stared, the easier it was to see a nude, dirty, squirming woman inside. Something was crawling on her. More than one something. Shiny, white, and skittering, the objects looked and moved like enormous bugs of some kind. A few were stationary; as the twins slowly moved forward, floating to avoid making sound, they could see these creatures lacked eyes.

And they were feeding on her flesh. The noise was their chewing – constant, steady chewing – but the victim's reactions were limited to subtle writhes. No one knew what to do but stand there and look on in horror.

"The bugs are full of magic. I feel it," Summer said at length. "Sister?"

"Yes, so do I. Let's take care of this together. I don't want to miss one."

They both snapped, turning the creatures into various small objects that fell around in the cage. Some escaped and went bouncing on the concrete. Open wounds were now visible on the woman – Mabel retched upon seeing them – but in seconds they closed up and healed over. Despite her injuries disappearing, she started to scream and thrash as if in great pain.

"What the hell is going on?!" Wendy shrieked over the noise. "I thought you helped!"

Winter snapped again, changing the woman into the first object she could think of: a copy of Mabel's pineapple plushie. Quiet returned – complete quiet, because their companions still had no clue what to do or say. "I'm not sure what I just saw."

"That makes all of us," Dipper agreed weakly, hugging Mabel just as hard as she hugged him. "H-how long do you think she's been down here? What were those bugs?" Nobody answered him – the older twins' silence put him off most of all. "Guys? What are you thinking?"

"She's holding a  _lot_ of magic," Summer said, mostly to her sister. "It's like all the sparks in Gravity Falls put together."

The feeling was strong enough to differentiate itself from the valley's spectral fog, too; it was brilliant, sharper – and faintly hot, Winter's brain decided. "Yes, but why didn't she use it to escape?" So confused was the blue-eyed woman that she picked the plushie up by hand instead of by magic to examine it.

None of them had an answer. To give herself something to do beside think about what she'd seen, Wendy clicked on her flashlight and started searching the rest of the room. Everyone but the older twins eventually followed her lead. The room extended beyond the cage for a distance; the whole thing turned out to be completely bare save for the enclosure itself. When she finally reached the end and swept the light around, something in the ceiling caught her eye. "Uh, guys?" she said, staring up at some holes in the rock. "Something dug its way in here."

"Huh?" With Dipper in front, the group came over to look at the openings. "Hey, aren't these about the size of those bug things we just saw?"

Summer yanked one of the changed insects over with her mind. "Let's check. Everyone should probably stand back." It unfurled in her ghostly grasp, screeching and wiggling, its pink legs unable to find purchase in midair. She floated it up to one of the holes to compare sizes. "Seems like it." Tired of the awful sound, she flattened it back into a coin and brought it down.

"It sure seems to have the teeth for digging," Stan noted, shuddering at the thought of the four massive fangs that protruded from its mouth. Another thought occurred to him: someone was awfully quiet. "Hey, Mabel. You all right over there?"

She had been staring at the gruesome bug like everyone else. Now her sight stretched on into the darkness. "It—those things were eating her."

"Mabel...?" Dipper said lowly, giving her a squeeze on the arm.

"So, what? Somebody locked her in a cage and  _left_  her here with bugs eating her-" Her eye began to twitch as she fell silent.

"Oooooooookay! I think it's time for us to go," the old man stated. He ushered the kids out of the chamber, leaving everyone else behind.

Soos watched them go – at least, until they left the range of his flashlight. "He's got the right idea, dudes. Let's get outta here. And preferably never speak of this again."

"Were it so simple," Winter mumbled grimly. With Summer's help, she gathered up the singing objects and produced a wooden box from a loose fragment of concrete to carry them in. After leaving the vault, which Summer sealed back up on the way, it became clear the Pines had departed the complex entirely, They stared hopelessly at the keypad next to the doors, then at each other to see if anyone knew the code.

Of course, no one did. "Dude, did he just abandon our butts down here?" a displeased Wendy grumbled.

"No way! He'll be back." Soos watched the elevator doors with a smile. "Any second now." A few moments passed. "Yep. Any second now."

"He'd better come back," Summer said, glaring. "I don't think he wants us to blast our way out of here."

A pleasant "ding" prefaced the opening of the elevator, though Stan wasn't inside. Dipper greeted them with a worried smile. "Hey. Sorry about that. Mabel's kinda throwing a fit. Being locked up alone in a small space is like, a top three fear of hers. She got trapped in a closet one time when we were kids. Cried for  _days_ , man. Bugs aren't so fun for her either, so, uh, she needs a minute."

"I think we all need a minute," Winter replied. Dipper's eyes glittered with surprise – since when did she act unsettled? – but he let her walk past without asking questions.

Just getting topside again was a godsend, giving them all the chance to catch their breaths and try to purge their minds. Soos closed the vending machine back and wiped his brow. "Guess my nightmares are planned out for the next month," he quipped.

"No joke, man," Wendy said with a nod. "I don't know whether to cry or puke."

Dipper removed his hat while collecting his faculties. "Anyone else wondering how that woman survived down there for that long? I mean, if she's been down there since 1963... then holy crap. If I weren't so terrified I'd give her the ultimate hug." For once, Winter and Summer had nothing to say. "No? Yeah, I don't wanna think about it either. Yeesh."

Stan opened the living room door, startling him. "I'm gonna be as polite as I can – I think Mabel needs a break from this stuff. So, uh, if you wanna do any further investigation, leave us out of it for now. Please.  _Please_."

"How could somebody do such a thing?" they heard her yell. "Not even Gideon would go that f—wait, how much of a _buttface_  do you have to be to make  _him_  look good?!"

"All right," Summer replied, not even turning to look.

"Huh. That was easy. Yeah. Uh, thanks." He hesitated long enough for the boy to push past him and leave, then followed him out of sight.

After they'd gone Soos got between the other twins, putting an arm around one shoulder apiece. "You dudes okay? You're kinda quiet, even for you." His response was stone-faced silence from both women. "Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting about personal space."

"It's not you," Winter replied, gently shrugging off the contact. "There are implications about what we've found that I don't like. We should go home and... consider them."

"Oh. Sure. Don't worry, I'll hang out here with the little guys. They'll be in good hands."

Summer cracked a little smile. "Thank you, Soos."

They got no farther than the gift shop porch, however. Like statues they stared off into a fine Oregon morning, motionless and calm, unable to find words for the typhoon whipping through both of their minds. The red-eyed woman moved first, producing her smartphone. "We need to talk to Greer. Now."

Those blue eyes of Winter's were hard enough to pierce diamond. "Yes we do, before I burn down everything that will hold a flame."

As she dialed Preston's number, Wendy opened the door and peeked around. "Oh, you're still here? Hey, uh, can I ride back with you guys? I got a bad feeling I'll lose my cool if I go home and have to deal with my brothers—I mean, geez, I love them to death but..." Their silence finally caught on. "Should I shut up?"

"Yes, you may come with us." Winter blindly tossed the keys over her shoulder. "Unlock the car. We'll be there in a moment."

"Whoa!" The redhead grabbed them out of the air. "Gotcha."

Summer glanced up as Wendy hopped down the steps. "Voicemail. I'm sure he'll call back when he sees my number."

Sighing with exasperation, Winter at last found the will to make her legs move. "Mm. I would hope so," she said, heading off the porch. "I'll drive. You keep trying to reach him."


	29. Pineapples and Plowshares

Here were the Weiss twins as Wendy had never seen them before: uncomfortable, on edge, and deathly quiet. Their tension flowed right to her in the back seat of the Audi. "Guys, come on. What's up?" she asked for the third time.

Summer pointed over her shoulder at the wooden box occupying the seat to her left, but said nothing.

The redhead looked over at it, then into it. The plushie was right in the center, bouncing gently with the bumps in the road. "Oh, well... yeah. I'm still freaked out about that too."

"She's singing to us," Winter said. "Like the magic in the hospital. No words. Just fear and pain."

"...wow. Now I'm depressed  _and_  grossed out."

Efforts to reach Preston Northwest proved fruitless; before long Winter pulled into their driveway as her sister kept trying. A person sitting on the front steps caught her eye. "Who is that?"

Wendy looked out the window. "Oh, dude. That's Tambry!" She got out and walked over as the other girl rose to do the same. "What's up, man?"

"Could ask you the same," she replied, barely looking up from her phone. "Hold on. I have to text the guys and tell them you're still alive and just ignoring us."

Wendy laughed awkwardly as the twins arrived. "Oh, heh. Uh, about that..."

Tambry stared at her friend for a moment before grinning strangely. "Something weird going on? I know the feeling."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

The purple-haired girl's attention went to Winter and Summer. "I saw some weird junk last night. And some weird guys. They told me to talk to you about it," she said, looking up at the twins. "Don't ask me why."

"People in red robes?" Summer's brow furrowed when Tambry nodded. "This isn't a good time. I'm sorry."

"No worries, yo. I got this," Wendy said, nodding for the other teenager to follow. "Come on, let's walk around and annoy rich people by stepping on their lawns. You can talk to me while we run from the cops."

She rolled her eyes with a faint smirk. "Good god, Corduroy. It doesn't take much to entertain you, does it?"

Winter, brow cocked, watched them walk away. "Well then."

"Let them talk. Now we can think out loud." Summer led her into the house, carrying the box full of nightmares. "We have to help her, but where do we even start?"

She was already standing in her thoughtful, arms-folded pose. "Good question. Why would that much magic seek out one person? What was special about her?"

"That isn't all." Dropping the box on the couch, the red-eyed woman joined her in contemplation. "How did she survive for so long? Was it that magic? If that's the case, I wonder if we actually need sleep or water at all."

"And those creatures..." Winter actually shuddered at the thought. "I still don't understand why didn't we feel anything until I changed her." The blue-eyed woman was suddenly on her own phone, but not to call for Preston. Instead, her fingers danced over the screen as she searched the internet.

"What?" Summer gave her a moment to do whatever it was she was doing, then she grew impatient. "Sister?" Her curiosity increased when the box started to float under Winter's urging.

"I wonder... let's see if I can answer our last question first." She snapped her fingers. The wooden box became a container made of of human bone, complete with a lid. She didn't need the gruesome container long; the moment the lid was on the phantom choir was silenced. "I see now."

" _Do_  explain."

"Magic usually hides in blood, but... if it's fearful of changing too much it might try to hide in something harder. Something more stable – like bone. Stone and bone both have mineral content." Winter returned the box to its original form and frowned as the noiseless sound burst forth again.

"Hmm... but we can feel it at home through rock just fine."

"Yes. But we can't rule out that this magic may have adapted to its new surroundings to minimize the damage it causes," Winter advised as she changed the box to a granite one, again with a lid. The soundless songs faded once more. "Mm. Now I want to know why she contained so much."

"Oh, I have a theory," she muttered, fists clenched in anger. "I would like to hope that particular kind of insanity is limited to our world."

No clarification was needed; her dark body language was more than enough to deliver the point. "Power appeals to everyone. As does control. It's possible," Winter admitted. "If not probable." Her eyes darted over as Summer's phone emitted a chime.

Fishing the thing from her skirt proved to be a challenge that lasted a few seconds. "Finally, it's Preston. Wait. A text message?" Reading it made her groan. "He's in a board meeting. Why should I care? We're more important."

"Give me that." Winter took her phone and fired back a reply. "There. If that doesn't get his attention, I'm not sure what will."

"Oh? What did you say?"

A smile bent her lips as she returned the device. "I said I'd figure out an economic reason to pay attention to us if he gives me too long to think about it."

Summer covered her mouth and giggled. "Good idea. Hit him where it hurts."

Winter gave back the phone with a small, but wry grin. "Mm. I suppose we should go make sure Wendy and her friend don't actually get arrested."

For a while, though, it seemed not to hurt Preston at all. The twins were left waiting on their porch and watching the day soldier on with no response. A few minutes after their vigil began, Wendy and Tambry returned. "Dude, will you put that phone down for five minutes?" Wendy demanded with a hand on her hip. "World's out here, man."

"Status update: Wendy sounds like my mother."

"Hey!"

Their chat died when they drew too close to the women sitting on the steps. Tambry did put away her phone, but was left with only awkward glances to greet the twins. "Run out of rich people to bother?" Summer asked cheerfully.

Wendy shrugged as she absentmindedly looked up the road. "Nobody was even home. What a waste. Uh... Tambers, you really need to tell them what you told me."

Now it was the dark-skinned girl with her hands on her hips. "I swear you call me that just to make me mad."

"It took you this long to figure it out?"

"Get to the point, please," Winter directed them, trying to wrap her bluntness in a velvet tone.

It still made Tambry uneasy. "Yeah, fine. Here." She produced her phone, and a few taps later had a picture to show the twins. "I saw it in the woods last night. Freaked me out enough to tell mom." On the screen was a dark, blurry picture of the forest at night. It featured at left-center a golden, vaguely triangular smear moving from right to left. "I felt like something had been watching me when I was out there with Nate and Lee and Thompson. Before we left I turned around, saw a light and took that picture. Then I texted mom. When I got home the freaks in the robes were waiting on me."

"Is this who I think it is?" Summer muttered as she stared at the image. "I thought... hmm."

"So, like, it's a ghost? Is that why they said to come to you?"

The red-eyed woman's face screwed up for an instant. "Not exactly. Did anyone try to wipe your memory of the event?"

"Well, yeah," Tambry confirmed, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. "I told 'em no way. I didn't want that weird thing anywhere near my head. They backed off."

Winter tilted her head a bit. "At least they took our advice."

"Yeah, better late than never I guess," Wendy grumbled.

Tambry eyed them all with a frown. "You seem to know what's up. Anyone want to clue  _me_  in?"

All eyes went to her as the group decided who would be their spokeswoman. "I'm fairly certain what you've seen is a creature called Bill Cipher," Winter finally said. "It worries me that you saw him while you were awake."

"I'm with you there," Wendy said with a nervous chuckle. "So much for dream demon."

Tambry's frustration began to boil over. "What are you talking—you know what, forget it. I'm going home. None of you are making any sense."

The redhead rubbed at the back of her neck and sighed. "It only gets worse from here, trust me."

Before Summer could chime in again, her phone did. She found a new text from Preston. "He gave me a phone number," she said to her sister while the teens started to talk – then argue about what Tambry should do. "I'll try it."

She eventually got a familiar voice on the other end. "I don't know how you got this number, but..."

"Colonel Greer? It's Summer Weiss."

That changed her tune in a hurry. "Huh? Miss Weiss, this isn't a secure line... oh lord. Something terrible happened, didn't it?"

"We'd like to meet with you as soon as possible, that's all," she replied, deciding to remain vague.

"Right. I'm holed up with the National Guard at Portland International, so it might take me a couple of hours to get out there."

Summer cocked a brow in surprise. "You're coming now?"

"You bet! I'll explain when I get there. Now, excuse me while I commandeer something with wings. See you when I see you." And then she hung up.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Summer said, staring at her phone for a moment. With that taken care of, the twins' focus went to Tambry and Wendy. "Excuse me, but can you get a ride home?"

"My mom's already on the way," Tambry replied before glaring at the redhead. "Whatever this is, leave me out of it."

There was no way Wendy would let it go that easily. "You can't just run!" she insisted. "Don't you think it's better to face it head on?"

Winter rose and cleared her throat to snuff out the argument. "Let her do what she wants. Not all of them will be willing to fight," she stated flatly.

Tambry took this as an insult and tensed up. "What is that supposed to me—whatever. What. Ever." A car coming up the street drew their attention. "That's her. I'm out." Winter noticed it first, then Summer; the female member of the Society they'd met last night was in the driver's seat.

Wendy had no idea what they were staring at. "Heh, uh... did I miss something?" she asked, scratching her hair awkwardly.

* * *

Stan Pines was on guard, brandishing a shotgun as he patrolled the house. Mabel and Dipper were finally asleep. He wanted to ensure nothing would wake them up. Thinking about the things that had been buried under the shack for so long made him shudder – especially the white insects. "Yeesh. I don't think the pest control guy covers those." This was part of the reason for his nervousness; if those creatures had come from outside the cave, they could be anywhere underground. Hundreds could be crawling under his feet right now.  _Thousands._ "Gah! No! You're supposed to be reassuring, little voice that lives in my head!"

So agitated, every bump and noise was suddenly one of the horrible creatures coming to eat him, the kids, or Soos. Every sound and shadow warranted his aiming of the gun. A few minutes of this level of vigilance left him exhausted. "I am literally too old for this crap. Soos!"

The handyman wandered out of the kitchen and looked around before coming over. "What's up, Mister Pines? Decided to give me a piece too? Dude, I am completely ready to pack heat in the name of-"

"Are you  _nuts_? I'd feel safer telling the truth on my income tax forms than letting you have a firearm. No, no, I want you to get upstairs and keep an eye on the kids. I need to sit for a minute."

"On second thought, maybe that's probably safer for everyone involved. You got it." Off he went, humming an inane little tune as he moved up the stairs. Stan fell into his recliner with a sigh and carefully set the shotgun aside. Within moments he was ready to drift off, but adrenaline kept him at least somewhat alert.

_Wanna make a deal, Mackerel?_

It was a whisper that came from every direction. Startled, the old man sat up and scanned the living room. "Huh? What? Who said—Bill," he realized, eyes narrowing. "Get lost, you one-eyed freak show."

_Hahaha! I know something you don't, fossil._

Growling lowly, Stan got up and went in search of the demon. "If you're gonna call me names, at least show yourself so I can make fun of you! You... you... poorly constructed basic shape!"

 _Aw, now you've gone and hurt my feelings. Hey, is it just me or does it seem like Shooting Star is in a bad place right now? Wouldn't it be a_ shame _if somebody pushed her over the edge?_

"Who?" he asked, face going blank. "Shooting Star? Are the hippies back in town for the Wood Stick festival again or something?"

Bill popped into sight, arms crossed and glaring. "Shooting Star! You know, the little female flesh bucket with the sweaters and the matchmaking and the weird mole on her-"

"Mabel!" Stan lunged at the triangle, who simply phased out and appeared behind him. "Stand—I mean float still! What do you want with her?!"

"Hah! Rage is fun. It's probably, I dunno, my second favorite human emotion. Fear is first. No, no, wait. Suffering is first, fear is second, rage is third. Yeah. Third." Bill's eye smiled as he watched Stan's anger mount. "I'm just saying you think you know something that's not true. And it  _amuses me._ "

"Oh, really? What, is the universe a hologram?"

"Whoa, whoa, it's not like that – it's still gonna be fun, though. Let's see how long it takes you to find out!"

Before things could flare up again, Soos poked his head in the doorway. "Hey, Mister Pines?" He stared at the golden triangle and lost his train of thought. "Oh, hey Bill. What's up? Been a while."

"The only thing that's up around here is this guy's blood pressure!" Bill produced his own rimshot while twirling his cane. "Don't mind me! You two have your little chat. I'll be waiting."

Stan glanced back over his shoulder. "Soos, this better be important."

"Well, uh..." he began, tugging at his collar. "I checked in on the little guys. They kinda weren't there. So I went outside to look for 'em and noticed the Mystery Cart is gone. Kinda just puttin' two and two together here."

"Wh—Soos! You had one job!" he exclaimed, turning to face the handyman. Bill's gleeful chuckling went ignored. "Get my keys! Mabel's not in her right mind and – I mean I love the boy to death but sometimes Dipper's got about as much backbone as a slug. Who knows what she might rope him into?"

"Ha! I get it. Slugs are invertebrates."

Both con-man and dream demon stared at him blankly. "Sterling job there, Question Mark," the latter stated. "Look, let's save what little time you mortals have and cut to the chase. I need a corporeal being to help me out here. Let's make a deal."

Stan glared daggers at him. "Help you with what?"

"I want you to talk to those weirdo friends of yours. You know, the ones that live up on the hill. Be my representative."

Stan straightened his tie and tried to look imposing. A glimmer was in his eyes as he spoke. "Talk to 'em yourself, jerk. You're everywhere. What do you need me for?"

Bill did almost exactly the same thing, except his bowtie adjusted itself. "Ugh, I knew you'd say that. Look, I'm a decent, hard-working entity that just wants to get by in this crazy physical plane. Buuuuut, since you have no idea where the little humans are, I could arrange for them to... I don't know, fall in a hole somewhere and starve to death. Maybe show them the meaning of existence and watch their brains explode. Literally! Or you could help me, and I'll  _guarantee_  they get back here completely safe." He extended his hand, which was now sheathed in blue flame. "Seems like a bargain to me. Then again I really don't know what safety is worth. Or what money is."

Stan, arms folded, turned his back on the demon. "You know where Winter and Summer live. Go talk to them yourself."

"You're playing with fire, Mackerel!" Bill stared him down, his body turning slightly orange. "Because... I can! I can do that. Myself. That talking thing. With my mou—I don't have one of those. You get my point."

"So, go do it. Besides, I know something  _you_ don't. I mean, I know something you don't know I know." Now the demon and Soos were staring at him in confusion. "I used too many knows."

"Get to the point, blood bucket!"

Stan grinned wide. "If you wanted to do something to those kids, you coulda done it here. Unless somebody summoned you, you're useless."

Bill swelled, turning red with fury. "Useless?! I'll show you useless, you..." he fell silent, still red and massive but with an oddly pouty expression. "Shut up."

"Ha! What's the matter, triangle boy?!"

With a snarl, Bill vanished in a puff of white, growling all the way. Before the cloud faded fully, they heard a whispered "I don't wanna do this. Those freaks are about as creepy as me..."

Stan doffed his fez and tried to figure out what had just happened. "Well, that was... something."

"I wonder why he won't talk to 'em himself?" Soos said with a vacant smile.

"Yeah. You know what? I'm halfway tempted to summon him, put him in a room with those two, and see what happens." Stan put his hat back on and started off. "Now, we got kids to find. Come on. And find my phone! Maybe one of 'em took theirs." He suddenly stopped and looked at the handyman. "Actually, find  _your_  phone. I, uh, don't know how to use mine. Technology frightens my cold, dead heart."

* * *

Dipper's brilliant idea to get away from it all appeared to be backfiring as the oppressive summer heat built up. Mabel had been sitting in silence for two hours, hugging her knees and staring at a place they barely knew existed until he looked it up: Gravity Falls Airport. To call it a complex would have been generous; it consisted of a tiny terminal, a dinky control tower and five hangars on the opposite side of the runway from the hill on which they sat. In fact, the oddly long runway was the most notable part of the whole place. Since they'd arrived, exactly one plane had taken off and two had landed, all of which were small, twin- or single-engine prop planes. While he looked up into the branches of the tree they were under, another prop plane was getting ready to depart. "Maybe we should move to a cooler spot?" he asked, shielding his eyes against the sun.

Mabel wouldn't reply – or even look at him.

So he looked at her, eyes loaded with worry. "Mabel? You're going to fry. Let's go find a better tree."

"Do you remember the good old days?"

His brow furrowed. "What? We're 12. I don't think we get to use that phrase."

She blew his quip off and kept going. "I mean the days when it was just you and me and Soos fighting dinosaurs and getting kidnapped and traveling through time and being able to come back home and laugh about it afterward."

"We—yeah, but that was like, three weeks ago." The words rang hollow as he stared across the airport's little dent in the forested landscape. "It feels like  _forever_."

Her body tensed up. "Sure does." After a brief pause, her face contorted. "Why did she start screaming when the bugs were gone? I thought that would make things better."

Dipper didn't want to replay that image again. "I don't know."

"And if the bugs had to dig to get in there, they weren't always around."

"Where are you going with this?" he asked, hands jammed into his pockets.

At last she looked at him, eyes wide with terror. "How long was  _she_  there? What if—what if she was trapped in that cage for thirty years, just... screaming? Why didn't she die? Was it the magic? Is it hurting her? Did... did she at least get to sleep?"

"I..." He covered his face with a hand and tried to stop trembling. "Dude. Holy crap. I didn't think about it like that." A light bulb went off. "Wait. It's okay now. She's with Summer and Winter. If anyone can help her, it's them."

Thankfully, this seemed to help her perk up a little. "Yeah. Yeah! It still blows, though."

"Sure it does. But we found her. It's gonna get better now. Somehow." Dipper set their talk aside when he saw a shiny glob of red travel up the highway beyond the airport. It soon came to a halt in the small parking lot. As its occupants emerged, he squinted through the heat haze. "Huh, that green dot with red hair looks—Wendy!" he exclaimed while standing up. "And the twins! What are they doing here?"

Mabel got to her feet as well, albeit a little slower. "Huh. What if Grunkle Stan or Soos sent 'em to look for us?"

"They had no idea where we were going. Something else is up. Come on."

Getting to them was a challenge, complicated by the vast fenced-off space around the runway. Ten minutes of walking down one hill and up another left them breathless and sweaty – and worse still, when they got to the lot their friends were nowhere to be seen. "I'm gonna die!" Mabel complained, fanning herself with the collar of her sweater.

Dipper wheezed "Terminal! Terminal!" in reply, doing the same with his hat.

They burst into the building and were slammed by a wall of cold air, taking a moment to soak it in and recover before looking around. Winter, Summer, and Wendy were on the other side, looking out the glass rear facade. The redhead, who was on someone's phone, noticed them first. "Hey, we found 'em. Well, I mean they found us, kinda. Nah. They're fine. Okay, I'll tell 'em, later." She hung up, handed the phone back to Summer, and smiled down at the kids. "Stan's kinda mad that you just ran off, you know?"

"I know, I'm sorry," Dipper replied sheepishly. "Mabel was freaking out about the woman we found. She still is. I thought some time out here might help her clear her head."

"It didn't," she said with a sigh. "Just made it easier to think about." She next pinned down the twins with an adamant stare. "Are you guys gonna help her?"

Summer whispered into her sister's ear, causing a blank look as Winter crossed her arms lightly. Suddenly, she walked over and dropped to a knee, then gave Mabel a hug.

She only returned it after the shock wore off. "Whoa. Uh, hey there."

"Helping her is part of the reason we're here," the blue-eyed woman said.

"Hey, guys?" Wendy called. "Plane's comin' in." A small, twin-engine jet alighted on the runway as they came over to watch. It looked like any of the other general aviation aircraft parked near the hangars – except for the United States flag on its tail. It came to a stop in front of the hangar nearest the terminal and deployed air stairs from its left side. Three people disembarked and approached.

Colonel Greer lead them into the terminal. Unlike the last two times the identical twins had seen her, she was in her dark blue Army Service Uniform – and looked to be suffering for it. "I thought Iraq was hot!" she complained, doffing her beret. "At least the desert was dry." With her were two imposing male soldiers with bands around their left arms that read "MP". Mabel was visibly nervous in their presence. "Secure the building," she said, motioning to them. "No one in, no one out. If somebody  _has_ to come in, signal me through the front door and give them an escort." They departed with a quick "yes ma'am" as she regarded the group. "Didn't think you were bringing a posse."

"They're just as much a part of this as we are," Summer replied with a smile. "And if you think you're going to deny them a chance to listen, you are wrong. Shall we sit?"

There weren't many chairs to use. Both sets of twins and Wendy occupied one row of chairs, while Greer got the opposite row all to herself. "I needed to come out here to do some housekeeping with you two anyway, but we'll get to that. What's going on?"

"Projects Briathos and Bellissima," Winter stated, her eyes firmly on the Colonel. "We know about them. What do  _you_  know?"

Greer shed her beret again and looked out the rear of the terminal with a sigh. "I've been briefed about them. Briathos is active. It's classified top secret  _and_ a special access program. Not even the President has clearance to know details. If you want that info, I'll need to ask Admiral McKay back in Washington. Bellissima, on the other hand..." Her nose crinkled up as she fell silent.

"I don't like the look on your face," Mabel noted grimly. "Makes me wanna leave. I think I wanna leave anyway."

"Maybe that's a good idea. I don't know if I can trust a bunch of kids with information like this."

"If they want to stay, they can stay," a stoic Winter informed her. "We trust them. That should be good enough. And if nothing else, Wendy has a physical reason to hear this."

"Yeah buddy," she droned sadly, waving her right hand. "I'm a wizard now! Wooooo."

Greer plopped her beret back on and frowned. "Not surprised. 'Apollyon' and 'containable' aren't two words I'd use in the same sentence. I wonder how many generations we managed to fuck up with this disaster." Dipper's wince made her blink. "Oh, pardon me. Uh... anyway, Bellissima was an offshoot of Project Plowshare, which started back in 1961. Wilhelm Seifert's, uh, activities, were overseen by people in that operation."

"We know what he did, don't use oofs... iffumissums... Dipper, help me," Mabel demanded, her arms crossed tightly.

"Euphemisms."

"Thank you."

Greer smiled just a little at their exchange. "Fair enough. Anyway, cracked and turned himself in in '63. He couldn't handle the secret anymore, I guess. Can't blame him – it would drive me insane too. After that, Plowshare kept going in two forms: the public one, and Bellissima, which got swept even further under the rug. Both produced research meant to contain the spread of magic."

"Well, at least I'm not the only one freaking out about that," Dipper said, pinching his nose. "What were they gonna do?"

"You don't wanna know."

"Some of us  _do_ ," Summer advised harshly. "We're not going to make you stay, though," she said to Wendy and the Pines, using a much kinder tone. Wendy just shrugged, not even bothering to adjust her slouched posture.

"I'm out," Mabel said, throwing up her hands and standing. A vending machine near the front attracted her gaze. "I need a drink." She walked away, but stopped and looked back when Dipper didn't follow. "Uh, bro? You comin'?"

"One of us should hear this," he said, shaking his head. "Grab me a soda though, huh? I'm stupid thirsty." Her eyes drilled through his soul, causing him to tremble. "What? You need a break from this stuff. I'll deal with it for a minute."

"Need a break? So do y-" Her mind and throat froze up – he was right. She did need a break, however small, but somehow it felt like she was sacrificing him. Lacking the strength to argue, she looked away and shuffled on.

"Somebody needs a hug," Greer noted, watching the girl depart. "Plowshare was billed as a study on how to peacefully use nuclear weapons. Some of those shots – nuclear tests, I mean – were us looking for ways to destroy the Apollyon complex. We wanted to see what yield would knock it out without destroying  _too_  much of Gravity Falls."

Wendy's arms dropped into her lap with shock. "Wow, man. I don't even know what to say to that."

"I wish I could say I were surprised," Winter said, stiffly perched in her chair. "How much worse was the other idea?"

"Biological containment of local magic via genetic manipulation and testing on wildlife? You tell me."

The air became frigid, but not because the HVAC kicked on again. Summer and Winter, eyes on the tile floor, radiated a silence so sharp and threatening both Dipper and Wendy leaned away from them. It stole their voices with its intensity – and almost stole their breath. Even Colonel Greer found no way to pierce their stillness. "Biological containment of magic," Summer repeated, her voice dripping with venom. Hers were the only words said for several moments.

"What housekeeping?" Winter finally asked after a few breaths so deep they must have hurt her lungs.

Greer took the out, shifting uncomfortably. "Uh... fine. Word is you took out entity 202 last night. That's what the Pentagon wants. They want you to neutralize the anomalies around Gravity Falls and deal with the magic however you see fit."

"Entity 202?" Dipper asked himself lowly. After some focus, he realized he'd seen that phrase on the island head monster's page in the journal. "Wait a second..."

Summer continued to stare into the blue linoleum. Her lips were curled. "And if we refuse?"

"I mean, we can't make you do anything. I sure ain't gonna try. I'll be damned if I'm the one that gets humanity killed because I pissed you off and caused an invasion."

"We will consider it," Winter stated as she stood up. "If there is nothing else, I'd like to take my sister home."

The hint was too clear to be missed. Greer departed the terminal after rounding up the MPs, leaving Dipper and Wendy to try and piece together what had just happened – without Mabel, who continued to hide near the vending machine. "Dude. Every time I think this crap can't get any worse," the redhead mumbled with a sigh. "You okay up there?"

Winter stood extremely close to Summer, her stance protective. "Dipper, please go get Mabel." Only when he nodded and left did she answer Wendy's question. "No," she said, staring at Greer's plane as it moved past on the taxiway. Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Because this is beginning to seem all too familiar to us."


	30. Good Intentions

"Grunkle Stan, you've been hugging us for like, ten minutes."

Dipper's observation only made the old man tighten his grip. "Yeah, well. You ran off and Bill showed up. I was a little worried." He glanced down at the suspiciously still and quiet Mabel. "What's goin' on down there, Mabel? You haven't said a word."

"Mmmmmf," she replied, face muffled by his black blazer.

Winter, Summer, Wendy and Soos were at the other end of the living room, all seated at the round table while the Pines' reunion stretched on. The identical twins were just as unwilling to talk as his great niece. "Even you?" Stan asked the silent redhead. "Somebody say  _something_."

She just glanced away with a tight-lipped frown. After returning to the shack, Mabel had demanded Dipper tell her what she missed in a fit of guilt and fury – and she'd been quiet ever since hearing it. Soos heard that conversation too. It left him rattled. "You dudes don't think she... 'cause man, that is messed all the way up."

"What else could biological containment of magic mean?" a drooping, paler-than-usual Summer replied. "We'll try to talk to her when we get back. I just want to make sure the kids are okay before we go."

"Dudes, don't even worry. I totally got this." Soos flinched as they all stared at him.

"Isn't it kinda your fault they ended up at the airport in the first place?" the redhead inquired.

"No, no, that's both our faults," Stan said loudly as he kept on hugging. Mabel spoke a few quiet words that made him look down at her for a moment. "Hey, you two need to get home and help that girl. You might be her only chance."

"I'm coming with you," Dipper added, struggling to free himself from Stan's burly arm. "Mabel, you stay here and rest, okay?"

"You ain't goin' anywhere, kid!" He broke the embrace to loom over him, hoping to impose his will. "What you will do is stay here and help me keep an eye on your sister."

"But Grunkle Stan! Whoever wrote the journals worked for the government! I gotta talk to the girl we rescued. She might know the author – maybe they can help us figure out if any other portals are active and-"

Winter, hunched over and deep in thought, denied him with the frigid bluntness Stan could not. "Your sister needs you. You're staying  _here_."

"But!"

"Let's be off." She got up and left with Summer right on her heels, not uttering another word until she was out of the Mystery Shack and nearly to the red Audi. "I'm not sure I'm ready to talk to her."

Summer had nothing to add but a slight nod. Just as they closed the doors, Wendy rushed up to the front passenger side window, yelling "Hey, hey guys! Wait up!"

"Maybe you should stay too," the red-eyed woman advised after lowering the glass. "Winter and I want to do this one ourselves."

"No, I totally get it. I just... I just wanna go home." After stepping back and fiddling awkwardly with her hair, she added "I told Tambry to face it. I'm not even facing it, you know? I can't stay scared of... of  _me_  forever. I have to go back. I mean, if I can handle it there, I can handle it anywhere. Right?"

Her nervous laughter made Winter's expression soften. "It's a good idea to try. Get in."

* * *

The twins didn't bother sticking around at the Corduroy cabin; they simply dropped Wendy off and were on their way. Their minds were too occupied to attempt small talk. After a silent journey home, Winter helped her sister along via a one-armed hug to the front door. Here they found a piece of paper taped to the door. Someone had left a note. Not a request for a visit, as would be the case from time to time since they became famous. Instead, this letter consisted of seven simple words.

_Keep going. I'm watching you._

–  _A Friend_

"What is this?" the blue-eyed woman asked, causing Summer to look up. She scanned the type again. "Watching us? Who?"

Having nearly reached her limit, Summer hissed her displeasure and stood straight. "I thought we were done with the damn spying." She too re-read the note. "A friend... someone in the Society?"

"Perhaps... but it would be simpler for them to contact us outright," she surmised, plucking the note from the door. "This is too easily misunderstood. I don't think they would risk provoking us. Not with what Preston knows." More typed text on the back caught her eye. "There's more." What she read made her eyes grow wide. "'Please find some way to give her mercy'."

"Wasn't that written on the vault?" Summer asked, blinking with surprise. "Who would—only someone with access to the facility would know those words."

"Yes. Someone around here must have worked in the project, but I have no idea who. It's not like we've gone out of our way to meet people." The concept of unknown observers – whether or not they were friendly – added anxiety to an already dour emotional stew. Somehow there was an even bigger issue than that. "They would have to be able to feel her magic to figure out she was free – and be familiar with its spark. There might be another one of us running around with magical detection."

Summer rolled her eyes with a groan. "Oh, how fun. Another secret to throw on the pile."

The twins stepped inside, glancing every which way as they went. The granite box was in the far right corner where Summer had left it, undisturbed. As they stood around it, neither woman could make themselves open it, or even touch it. "What do we do now?"

Uncertainty sounded odd coming from Winter's lips, but the red-eyed woman felt exactly the same way. "We could let her sleep..."

"She needs our help."

Summer hugged herself and looked away. "I—I'm worried about what we might find. And if we change her back and something happens to her, where will her magic go? What if Bill Cipher gets it somehow?"

"Good point – but she heals like we do. If she contains enough magic to do that, she might..." Winter trailed off, ejecting a rope of black from her left palm. It wiggled in response, its end darting about as if looking at its mistress and Summer. "Perhaps we have more sisters than we thought." The ebony tentacle retracted back into her palm with a sickening noise. "Forget it. Let's get this over with." With her magic, she lifted the lid and allowed the air to fill with the soundless chorus. Ignoring the transformed bugs in the box, she retrieved the pineapple plushie and motioned for Summer to follow her to the bathroom. Once there, she set the plushie in the shower and closed the glass door. "Arm yourself. We don't know what we're dealing with."

This meant allowing two long, black blades to slide out from her palms, which she closed her fingers around like swords. "Okay."

Winter did the same with her right hand, keeping her left free to snap. The woman unfurled, crawled to a corner, and curled into a ball – but didn't scream. At least, not at first; a few seconds passed before her anguished wailing started anew. "It's all right," she called through the door. "We don't want to hurt you." Whether she didn't hear or didn't care, the woman kept on shrieking. "I might have to gag her."

The sound had Summer visibly distressed, but she nodded acknowledgment and got ready. "Go ahead. I'll cover you."

In Winter went, dismissing her awful weapon as she crouched down. Their shaking captive was face down, curled into the tightest ball her body would allow and screaming into the black and white tile. Unsure what would happen if she touched her directly, Winter instead used the black gunk to make contact first. When it hit the woman's skin she instantly fell silent. "Oh. Hello? Do you understand me?"

"Why did she stop?" Summer asked, looking down from over her sister's shoulder.

"I'm—wait." Falling still, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the silent voices in her head. "I think it's siphoning magic from her."

Summer's face screwed up with worry. "I don't like the sound of that."

"I'm not worried. It feels diluted – no, not diluted, conflicted. Every voice I hear inside of her has an opposite stuck to it." For a few quiet seconds, she tracked the sounds as they traveled up the black conduit and into her body. Her innate magic smashed those wayward sparks like bugs when they entered, leaving nothing. "I wish you'd stop that," she said to the midnight goo. "I'm trying to hear what they're saying."

"I think I liked it better when she was screaming," Summer pointed out, looking at the catatonic woman. "Naked, afraid, and in a strange place. It's like my first memory all over again."

"Mine too." Winter's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Wait." A tiny whisper danced its way between them over the goo. "I'm not the right kind of magic?"

"Hmm." Only now did Summer order her black blades to retract. She frowned at the bloody slits they left behind, though these closed up in the space of a second. "It makes sense. If whoever did this to her was working with magic that had changed itself to suit this environment, then, no. We're not the right kind of magic at all."

"But how did she end up with so much?" Winter withdrew the sticky connection and braced herself for more screaming – which she got right away. "Ugh." With reluctant hands she rolled the woman over and used the goo to swipe an instant gag across her lips. Not only did it muffle the cries, but it silenced her completely again. "I don't think she can function. The sparks I heard would be telling her two different things at once – and if she has so many internal voices to listen to, her brain must be completely seized up."

"How can we help her?"

"I'm not sure. But..." Winter sighed and stood up. "The least we can do is get her cleaned up. She's a mess."

"Yes." An idea came to the red-eyed woman as she moved to help. "Hold on... if the person who left that note knows about her, maybe they could help us."

"I was thinking the same, but where would we even start looking for them? They didn't leave handwriting for anyone to recognize."

Summer shrugged a little and smiled. "If they feel magic – her magic – maybe they'll come looking." Their gaze went to the woman. "Besides, if they were able to leave a note on our door in the time we were gone, they can't be far. Oh! Maybe the neighbors saw something?"

"Over those ridiculous hedges? I doubt it." Winter gently helped the unkempt woman to her feet, though she made no effort to stand and had to be held up. "The only other option I can think of is to drain her magic and see what happens. Of course, doing so might kill her. I would rather not have to explain that to Mabel."

Summer stared into the dull hazel eyes of their captive and sighed. "Right. I guess the best we can do now is wait. I think I could use a break from this myself anyway."

Giving their magical refugee a bath was a slightly complicated process. Reluctant to use their telekinetic magic to do the work – mostly because they feared the tingles might cause her further pain – the twins instead relied on the umbral fluid that lived within them. Holding her up with a web of black tentacles not only made her easier to bathe, but kept her silent as well. The woman herself turned out to look quite normal – or at least quite normal for  _this_  planet – after her bath, though her dusty brown hair had a powerful shine to it. A lot like the twins' inky strands, in fact. Under the grime she had an olive complexion and nearly flawless skin, though her frame was slender to the point of scrawny. More time was spent trimming her nails and brushing her hair, all while she dangled in their frightening black embrace. Once groomed, Winter compressed her into a more appropriate object: a somber-looking golden cube of glass. Summer placed it on the coffee table in the living room as a decoration when they sat on the couch. Now the twins waited for the peace to be broken.

But it seemed as if everyone had collectively let things drop for the moment. The twins' phones were quiet. No one knocked at their door. They fell into the comfortable, contented silence of being with each other while busying their minds in some way or another. For Winter, as always, it was a book. For Summer, it was watching a shopping channel to get ideas about things she could make for the house and its new occupant, just in case anyone showed up who knew her better.

"What is a cleansing conditioner?"

Winter barely glanced up. "I think it's a fancier type of shampoo."

"It sounds like it's made of food. I want to try it." After eyeballing the containers on the screen, then searching the internet for an ingredients list with her phone, she departed for the junk closet and came back with six bottles of the stuff just as the host was talking about shipping options. "I'm sorry, nice woman. My shipping is much faster than yours," she said with a giggle. When they moved on to a model to show how much luster her auburn locks had, Summer lost interest. "Speaking of shiny... sister, did you notice her hair?"

"I did."

"...doesn't it remind you of anyone?"

It sure did; three people in particular, two of which made made the blue-eyed woman feel extremely conflicted. Winter frowned, dog-eared the corner of the page she was on to mark it, and closed her book. "They were right about time and distance. I hate our  _parents_  a lot less here and now than I did there and then. I wonder if the referendum has happened yet."

"Forget that. I'm with you; politics don't mean anything to me." A cursory glance back at the golden cube made her lips twist in thought. "Maybe magic just causes your hair to be prettier."

"I would suppose it's a reproductive thing. Prettier humans attract more mates. That means a better chance that more containers will be born for magic to occupy."

"Leave it to you to make romance sound creepy!" Summer exclaimed, folding her arms in a huff. "You need to go on a date. I guess I do too." They shared a brief, but wry smile before she continued. "And anyway, wasn't the point of this expedition to figure out who we are? As people, I mean."

Winter's shoulders slumped as she looked away. "And so we wouldn't influence the voting process, but... yes. You have a point."

"So much for that," the red-eyed woman mumbled. "I feel like I need a vacation from this vacation."

"I can't say I disagree." Winter had her phone out to be sure it still held a charge. She listened briefly to the plaintive, ghostly wail of the cube on the table. "Mm. I wonder what everyone else is up to?"

* * *

Wendy's valiant stand against her fear wasn't quite going as she'd planned. Not long after the twins dropped her off, her father headed into town, putting her in charge of a tornado of rowdy boys that would barely pay her any attention when he  _was_  around. Alone, it was hopeless. Since the past few hours had left her overwhelmed enough, she barricaded herself in her room and tried to keep calm by lying down. At least her power was under control – despite all the yelling and arguing, no invisible force intervened to throw anyone across the room. Her self-imposed stress test had been passed, for now.

That did not mean her magic was silent. At first it seemed like the internal voice of her consciousness. But as the minutes ticked by she couldn't help but feel another presence drifting around in her mind; this was the biggest contributing factor in her decision to seclude herself. Not knowing what else to do – and since it was going to be there anyway – Wendy took Summer's advice and tried to strike up a conversation. "So, uh... hello? Can you hear—duh, of course you can hear me, you are me. Technically. Never mind." Every muscle went still as she waited for a reply. "I don't think this is working, man. No offense. Can magic be offended?"

An electric little tingle darted around her scalp; with no real way to qualify it, the redhead labeled this feeling as a smile in her brain. It was contagious – she cracked a grin too. "Heh. Okay. I don't even know how to use you. Wait, that kinda sounds mean. Um... crap, if Dipper were here he'd know a better word." The tone of the tingling became colder. "Whoa. That's-"

There was no need to finish her thought. She was already quite familiar with the frigid needles stabbing her skull. Something spurred her to sit up and look around the room for an object to grab. Her left hand stretched out toward her phone, charging on the nightstand. Now she tried to figure out how to engage her power. "I seriously do not have a clue how to do this." With a shrug, the redhead started to think.

Even that turned out a bit fragmented.  _Put the phone in my hand—hold on, no, unplug it first. Then put it in my hand._  She allowed her eyes to close.  _Yeah. Unplug first, then hand._ _Uh, please._  A tiny click made her jump, but she kept concentrating. The cold touch of metal against her palm caused her fingers to close; when her eyes opened again the phone was in her grip. Lips parted with surprise, she stared at the device. "Dude! I wish I'd actually seen myself do it, but dude." Unable to decide if she was terrified or thrilled, she focused instead on doing the reverse. "Go back." It pushed against her fingers gently until she opened her hand and let it go, watching dumbfounded as it floated right back to where it had been sitting. The cord was even plugged back up after it came to rest. The chilly tingle of magic coursed all the way up her arm, but this time she was not afraid. In fact, it felt like being in the presence of a friend. "Holy crap." Her mind raced with the possibilities. "Oh man. Should I like, go around saving people now? Do I need a costume?"

Sound from the hallway beyond her door made the redhead go quiet, hugging herself almost defensively. Her brothers stomped and yelled as they went by, fighting about who knew what. As their racket faded, Wendy returned to thinking. "No no no. With great power comes great responsibility. I think." A massive grin split her lips. "Screw that. I am gonna prank the absolute  _crap_  outta Thompson."

Cackling faintly, she began to practice, mentally grabbing various items. Over the next several minutes, the TV remote, a few socks, her hairbrush, and the hatchet hanging on her wall all bent to her will, flying into her grasp and out of it at the merest thought. "This is amazing!" she said, wearing a sunny smile. A bra from her dresser zipped off and through the air at her command. She snatched it down and smirked. "Maybe I'll actually do my laundry now. Pff, no." A relieved laugh escaped her mouth. "They were right. No point in being afraid of you. We just had to communicate." A thought made her snicker even more. "Oh, dude. You think my brothers could do this too? The world is  _not_  ready for magical Corduroy boys, man."

It felt good to feel good again, so Wendy kept on laughing. Only when the hair on her neck stood up did she realize something wasn't right. The cabin was far too quiet. Unwilling to let go of her renewed optimism, she simply assumed her brothers had left and afforded the silence only a glance over her shoulder. Her father was standing in the doorway. "Whoa!" she yelled, tossing the bra away and chuckling nervously. "Uh, h-hey dad."

"I saw you do that. The thing. The thing with the mind grabbing."

"W-what?" Her father had never sounded or looked like this before, so resigned and muted she barely recognized him. "Oh, that was just a trick I learned from Mister Pines, man. He worked some tourists from Portland over with it this one time. It's just, uh, it's just fishing line."

"Don't lie to me, Wendy. I heard you talking to yourself."

Now she realized how long he'd been standing there: too long. Her blood turned to ice. "N-nah. I wasn't-" she fell silent, unable to muster an appropriate excuse. "Okay. Um, dad? You might wanna sit down for this."

Instead he smiled – a crooked, sad smirk that made her heart skip a beat – and crossed his arms. "It's okay, honey. I already know."

The redhead's entire body locked up. " _What_ ," she said, more demanding than inquiring. "What do you mean you know?"

He raised his massive hands a little to prevent her from getting nervous. "Don't worry about anything. I'm gonna fix it – gonna fix it again."

Despite his demeanor and her confusion – wondering how and what he knew, and when, was starting to make her feel sick – Wendy chose to keep thinking positive. "Fix it? You can fix it? 'Cause, man, there are a couple of people we really need to go talk to. Let me grab my boots and-" Her face went blank as she processed all of his words. "...again?"

"You just relax right there. Daddy's gonna go make a phone call." He winced at the burgeoning panic in his daughter's eyes and said the one thing he thought would calm her down. "I know you're scared! You won't remember a thing! I promise!" And then he was gone, a series of heavy footsteps that faded down the hall.

"Won't remember a..." All the color left her freckled cheeks as she put Bud Gleeful's words together with her father's. "No. No. You can't be serious." For the second time in as many days, her world was yanked right out from under her, leaving the redhead a gasping, sobbing, trembling wreck. This time, however, she wasn't alone with her emotion. A modest sensation cut through the horror and offered a suggestion. "I should go?" Wendy sniffled, rubbing her nose. "But where?" Anywhere, it whispered. Staying here was not a good idea.

Since thinking about an escape was better than tangling with the questions her father had just raised, she got off the bed, ran to her closet, and grabbed her camping backpack. After a few frantic minutes of stuffing it with whatever clothes she could find that looked clean, Wendy grabbed her new phone and opened the window. "I can't believe this," she said sadly, slipping out onto the grass. "How many times—and what about them?" Now she wondered if her brothers really did have magic – and if they'd been made to forget too. After casting one last glance at the cabin, she dashed into the woods, hoping to outrun a new flood of tears.

Even shielded from the sun by those immense trees, the humid heat sapped her strength quickly. Panting for air, she tumbled to rest at the base of a redwood and sat against its trunk, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she said between breaths. "They'll tear Gravity Falls apart lookin' for me." The idea of going back made her stomach turn. " _He_  knew. If he knows, who else does?" Thinking – about that, or anything else – was too tall an order right now. She slumped forward and fought the urge to cry again. "How could he do that to me?!" Startled by the amount of anger that spilled out with those words, Wendy hugged herself and tried to calm down. "Never mind. We've met before, haven't we?" she asked the magic within. "What happened? Do you remember?"

A burst of unspeakable fear was her reply, but in a second it mellowed back into the steadfast background presence that had been poking around in her brain for most of the afternoon. "I was afraid," Wendy confirmed quietly. "I was afraid last night too. So, like, when did I know? Originally." Her mental companion had no answers. "Don't remember, huh? Don't worry about it. I guess it ain't that important." Fanning the heat away with her hat took priority for a moment. "We—I mean me... I mean... dude. Am I me, or are we us?" It informed her in wordless terms that she was fully in control – though it did act to protect her against the Society. In fact, the very next sense she got from it was an apology of some kind. "You're a sweetheart. You don't have to apologize for anything." More of Summer's words occurred to her. "Like a friend that never goes away, huh? I can deal with that. I can't deal with this heat, though."

There was one place where Wendy knew she would find peace. By some miracle her phone had reception. She called Winter straight away. "Hey. Deja vu. Looks like I'm callin' you for help again."

"Why? What happened?"

Her throat closed up, permitting only pained grunts to pass through as she struggled to accept the newest version of her reality. Tears began to flow. "I..." Her new internal friend tried to help by pointing at memories to cheer her up. One of these – her and Tambry making fun of their summer reading assignment for English class – provided the best summary of the day she could hope for. "That Wolfe guy was right. You can't go home again. I need a place to stay. Can you pick me up at the gas station on route 33? It's like a mile or two south of Gravity Falls, just past the shack. I'll explain then. I just can't make myself do it right now," she explained, hunching over toward the end to try and stifle her crying.

Had the redhead been able to look off to her left, she might have seen the figure peeking out from behind another of the redwoods and watching her from underneath their woodland camouflage hood.


	31. Past Experience

Now she knew how the twins must have felt. Every familiar thing she saw and heard and felt was no longer that at all; Wendy had become an alien in her own home, quite literally. Sadness and panic formed an icy pit in her stomach – she had to swallow them and stop crying so no one would call the police. Or her father. The redhead sat to the left of the gas station's front door, clinging to her knees and waiting for her way out. How much of a head start she'd gotten was anyone's guess.

Familiar cars drove past on the highway. Some of them were even driven by kids she knew from school, bringing on a train of thought that moved her dangerously close to tears again. "Where did my life go?" she whispered. Where it would go  _now_  proved too difficult a thing to think about. "I wish this day would end already. Man."

The arrival of Summer's gleaming red Audi provided some relief. The red-eyed woman was driving, though her sister was nowhere to be seen. Wendy dashed to the car and struggled to open the door with her shaking hand. "I don't know what to say," Summer admitted after she was safely inside. "Your father knew?"

Wendy slumped back and hid her eyes. "Can we just go?"

Her face twisted sadly. They departed the station and started up route 33, snaking a path through the ancient forest. Summer provided as much peace as she could, keeping her mouth shut and turning down the radio until its music was a whisper in the background. Even after Wendy revealed her face with a sigh and straightened she stayed quiet.

"Somebody's gonna tell him I'm at your house," she said. "I don't want to go home. I don't—I..." Her voice faded into a growl as she clutched the sides of her head. "Why would he make me forget? What happened? Did I do something bad?"

"Deal with it when you know. Don't start making up disasters to fret over until then," Summer advised gently. "You don't have to go anywhere, but I think you should talk to him. Let him fill in the blanks for you. What if he comes to us? Would that make you feel better about seeing him?"

As much as she wanted to cry again, the tears wouldn't fall. "M-maybe. I just... I wonder if he's done the same to my brothers. Should I tell them? Or should I just leave them alone?" Her weary eyes pierced the windshield, staring more into her uncertain future than at the road ahead. "What happens to  _me_  now, man?"

"I would be lying if I said I knew."

"Yeah." Wendy fought her seat belt and tried to get comfortable. A constant stream of positive vibes came from the spectral companion in her brain, but they served only as a reminder of her plight. "Please, just be quiet," she muttered to herself. Despite it being what she wanted, the sudden silence made her frown. "Oh. You—you actually listened."

"You're so lucky yours will actually shut up," Summer grumbled, then blinked at the redhead's confused face. "Nothing!"

"Riiiight." Her mind wandered to a relatively less distressing topic. "How about that chick we found? How's she doing?"

Now it was Summer's turn to gaze into the infinite distance. The wailing song nearly drowned out the rest of the valley's magical cloud, shining down from the hill like a lighthouse. "I don't think she can function anymore, if she was ever able to in the first place. We don't know what to do with her." Sullen silence filled the car. "Oh, I should warn you: someone else is watching us. They left a note on our door."

The sadness drained from Wendy's eyes so anger could take its place. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" she said loudly, slapping her forehead.

Summer couldn't help but smile at her curse. "My sentiments exactly. They claim to be a friend, but the last time someone spied on us it didn't go very well. I'm suspicious to say the least."

"God. I just wanna run away."

Her ruby eyes narrowed sadly. "We've been running for a long time. It doesn't work." That statement more or less killed anyone's willingness to speak until she pulled up at a red light and had a chance to think. "Can I ask you something?"

Wendy blinked and stopped fussing with the backpack between her legs to look up. "Uh, sure. I guess."

"If you could eliminate the magic in Gravity Falls, would you?"

"Wow." She turned away and stared blankly ahead. "Well, I mean... on one hand, it's what makes Gravity Falls what it is. On the other hand, it's messed up as hell."

"What's messed up about it?"

"The-" Her face dropped as she paused in consideration. "Wait. The magic itself ain't the messed up part, it's what people did with it. I don't know what I'd do, honestly."

Summer nodded in agreement. "Neither do I."

* * *

Dipper continued to creep along despite being well out of range of the person who he was trying not to disturb. He went so far as to tiptoe down the stairs and into the living room, where a bemused Stan watched his effort to remain quiet. "Uh, why are you tiptoeing on carpet?"

"I don't wanna wake up Mabel," he whispered before sitting down gingerly.

He looked over his shoulder at the wall and blinked. "She'd never hear you down—never mind. I guess it can't hurt. How was she?"

"The best way I can put it is burnt out. She's exhausted. I think she actually cried herself unconscious." Dipper watched a few seconds of  _Why You Ackin' So Cray-Cray_  while collecting himself. "I don't feel much better."

"I can tell. That's why I want you to back off a little. Take a breather."

"I know, but..." Soos' arrival with a large red bowl made him trail off. "Hey, man. So that's what that smell was." He peeked into it as the handyman sat down on his right. "Whoa. Nachos much?" An obnoxious growl from under his orange shirt made him blush. "I think I forgot to eat lunch."

"Help yourself, dude," Soos said, setting the bowl between them. "What were you guys talkin' about? More seriousness?"

"No." Dipper glanced up at Stan, who shrugged back. "Kinda. I want to get this over with. This whole  _thing_."

"Kid, I've been in it for thirty years. I'm tellin' you, you need a break every once in a while. You're reminding me of me down there." Stan cackled at the face his great nephew made. "It's a compliment! And I never compliment anybody. I'm surprised I still remember how."

"Hey, what's the rush?" Soos asked around a mouthful of food. "Besides the possibly-imminent destruction of our planet and all."

Dipper emitted a few noises that were meant to be words before grumbling lowly. Stan chuckled and poked him in the back with his shoe. "You want to get it done with for Mabel's sake. Just say it."

"You're... you're right," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ever since we found out about what happened at the hospital she's been—I don't know how to explain it. It's like her smiles aren't as smiley as they used to be? Does that make sense?"

"Dude, for her it makes perfect sense. I mean, this place isn't what I thought it was, you know? Kinda getting me down too."

The boy offered Soos a weary smile. "Me and my stupid curiosity. If I'd left it alone, maybe we wouldn't be here now."

"Stanley would have scolded you for sayin' that, kid."

They looked over at Stan. "Hey, what was he like?" Dipper asked. "You haven't really talked much about him."

Settling back in the recliner, the old man's eyes darted about as he searched the past. "I dunno. He was kinda like you. Real smart. Even more awkward than me as a kid. Liked to read a lot. It was kinda hard for him to relate to people outside the family before the Seiferts got here. Talk about smart. They were barely older than kids themselves. I guess that's why we got along with 'em so well. Heh, they'd use so many five-dollar words I couldn't follow what they were sayin'. Anyway, after the war, Stanley did so well in high school he got a full scholarship to Oregon and majored in physics. Then he got a  _doctorate_  in physics. Point is, he was a genius. And... he was – is – a way more forgiving man than me."

Soos cocked a brow, so struck by those last words he postponed a mouthful of nachos. "Huh? How so?"

A vague shadow of anger darkened Stan's face, but his voice stayed even and calm. "Lemme show you two something." He rolled his eyes when they glanced at the bowl. "Bring the food. Geez. I'm kinda hungry myself." Their brief journey took them out of the shack and over to the bottomless pit, where all three stood around the edge and shot various expressions into the abyss. The old man drank up the silence of the forest and closed his eyes. "Hey, uh... Can I talk to you?" he asked the hole awkwardly. "Just you. You other guys can stay put. You know who I mean."

A single golden twinkle emerged from the pit after a few seconds' passage, darting around like a spectral firefly in the sunshine. It went straight to Stan, almost crashing into his nose. When he laughed, it hovered more slowly over to Dipper and ran circles around him as if curious. Soos waited for it to greet him with a wide smile but was left hanging. "Aw, dude, I wanna play with the golden mystery twinkle too."

"It doesn't mean anything bad, it... she doesn't know you is all." Stan held out his right hand, palm up, and let the sparkle land in it.

Dipper suddenly felt a distinct urge to shed his hat – and it wasn't the heat's fault. "She?"

"Her name was Serena. She is—was? I dunno how to put it, but she was gonna be Stanley's daughter. My niece," he explained, removing his fez and watching the dot of light bounce around against his skin. "Yeah. You did get a name, even if you never heard it."

"Dude, what happened to her?" Soos asked, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

"I-" Stan looked down at Dipper, causing his voice to catch. "Maybe I shouldn't say."

He put a hand on his hip and stared back. "Grunkle Stan, you know I'm going to investigate if you don't. I'll probably regret it, but I will investigate. I can't help myself. It's like a stupid reflex or something."

"I know, kid." As Stan donned his fez again the sparkle took off, dancing an erratic path through the group at eye level. "She was killed by Wilhelm Seifert on June 14, 1963. When he told us that night, I wanted to kill  _him._  But Stanley... look, he was mad, don't get me wrong." He turned his gaze to the blue sky above. "I don't know a word for how he acted. Like he understood why it had to be done, but it still hurt. I don't think Wilhelm could take it anymore. Not after havin' to kill the child of one of his friends, you know? Four days later, well, you know what happened."

Speechless and mouths agape, Dipper and Soos watched the golden twinkle fly in quick circles. It alighted on the bill of Soos' hat and bounced a few times. "I guess I should have known," the boy said after a while, "but  _wow_. She was his last victim?" A thought made his brow crease. "No, the government's last victim. That we know of. In this particular proj—you know what, I'm going to stop talking and thinking before I start to cry."

"Good idea." Stan looked over at his supposed-to-be niece and smiled. "Go on back. We just wanted to say hello." That smiled faded as the light zipped off and back underground. He moved to the edge and watched it go until it faded from view. "Stanley never hated him. I hated him because it was easier. He was there. I  _could_  hate him. I couldn't hate some faceless military bureaucrats on the East Coast and all the scientists that were already dead. Wilhelm just made the best target."

"I guess I get that," Dipper admitted, putting his hat back on as well. "It doesn't make it right, but, you know." An idea finally tore his eyes from the grass. "Hey, he's in the graveyard. You guys could have a talk. We talked to him. I mean, if there's any bad blood left or anything."

"Maybe I should. Anyway, like I said, our family caught a lot of hell for being friends with them. Your grandparents took your dad and moved to Oakland. Stanley went back to Eugene, 'cause... Claire – his girlfriend – committed suicide on the 21st. She couldn't handle the grief. I don't know how  _he_  handled it. I don't know how I did. Or if I did." On the verge of tears, Stan needed a deep breath to stave them off. "I ended up livin' with Stanley for a couple of months, but I couldn't stand seeing him suffer like that. I felt so..." Trailing off, he removed his glasses and hid his eyes. "Helpless. So I became a vagabond. Sold vacuums out of my car in Portland for a while. Then the government came calling for both of us 'cause we were pretty close to the project. They wanted to make a deal." The sweat on his face and theirs stopped him from going any further. "Let's go back in. It's too hot out here to tell stories."

"Wait! What kind of deal?" Dipper demanded, running to catch up as he walked away.

"One I didn't take," Stan replied, glowering straight ahead. "One I wish I had."

"Does it have anything to do with the weird silver metal suitcase with the locks that has a bunch of spy gear in it?"

They stopped and looked at Soos after he spoke. Stan's expression was horrified annoyance; Dipper was just confused. "Excuse me?" the boy said. "What suitcase?"

"Oh, the one in the secret compartment under the cash register he doesn't think I know about." He regarded the old man's stare with a smile and another mouthful of nachos. "Woo. I put too many peppers in these," he joked while fanning himself. "What?"

The wheels were turning in Dipper's head, and when they stopped he eyed his great uncle with a frown. "You  _worked_  for the government, didn't you?"

"Uh, no. What government? There's no government. You're the government!" he replied frantically, shifty glances and hand motions becoming more exaggerated with every word. Before he could beat a hasty retreat, Dipper moved to block his path. "Move, kid! I left the refrigerator on! I mean the oven, I left the oven on. There's an appliance in there somewhere that's on and shouldn't be and I gotta find it!" His excuse failed to clear a path. "I ain't answering any questions without a lawyer."

"Dude, don't make me wake Mabel up and tell her you're hiding crap from us. She'll bite you. Do you realize how much those braces hurt?"

"Uh..." The threat was enough to make Stan squirm on his feet. "Okay, fine, yes. I did eventually. I'm not tellin' you the particulars of my work, though. Not even if you give your sister a chainsaw. That's on fire."

"Way to be reassuring."

He peered down at Dipper's sarcasm. "Hey! You ever think some of it might be  _classified_? It's extremely illegal for me to talk!"

"But if the police don't see it, it's not illegal. Right?" Soos' face screwed up a bit at the awful glare he received from the old man. "Oh, oh, right. Hear it. 'Cause you can't see talking. Sorry."

"Stop turning my words against me. Do as I sa—no, do as I do, not as—wait, that's even worse. Just, just do what I want!" Stan finally said, throwing his arms up in defeat as he headed toward the shack.

Dipper waited until he was out of earshot before turning to Soos. "What else have you found around here?"

"Not much," he shrugged, though his face immediately went blank. "I'm pretty sure that room you and Mabel were fighting over belonged to Stanley, though. I saw his name on a box of stuff in a closet."

"Oh, there has  _got_  to be something in there. Let's go look." Dipper started off, pausing when his sight swept across their triangular bedroom window. "After I check on Mabel."

* * *

It was Winter who conjured a fully-furnished bedroom for Wendy, leaving her gobsmacked with how easy she made the process. "I think everything is in order," the blue-eyed woman remarked. "What about you?"

"Uh..." she mumbled, looking around in amazement. Not only was her new bed draped in red plaid sheets, but she also got a cherry dresser for her clothes – and once she'd told Winter her size, even more new garments to fill it, all created to order out of a random clump of junk she was holding. The white walls were replaced with oak paneling, and to top it off there was a three-blade ceiling fan spinning above. "Yep. I'm good. By the way: holy crap, you're insane, thank you so much for all this."

Winter allowed herself a tiny smile. "Mm. In hindsight I should have done this for the kids. Perhaps I'm too pragmatic for my own good." She glanced back at the twitchy girl and frowned. "Or perhaps it's the fact you might be here for a while."

"Maybe you're right." Wendy fell onto her bed and rolled to stare at the ceiling. "'Cause I sure don't know what to do next."

"Perhaps you should call your father?"

She made an awkward, unwilling noise and sat up. "I don't know, man. I keep wondering what else he's had those guys make me forget."

"Concentrate on one thing first before you go hunting for others. He must have had a reason," Winter replied, lightly crossing her arms. "From what I've seen of you two, I don't think he'd ever do you harm."

"Nah, but..." She rubbed her temples with a sigh. "I messed up, didn't I? By running away. He's gonna find me. It's just a matter of time."

Winter looked her right in the eyes and tried to smile. "It's okay to panic. I've panicked, Summer has panicked, everyone panics. Let him know where you are."

"But I don't wanna go home. I don't know what I'm capable of. I'm still... you know, sorta nervous."

"He won't make you go anywhere," she assured the redhead evenly. "Just let him know. Whether you want to see him now is up to you."

Reluctantly, she grabbed her backpack and set it in her lap, rubbing the nape of her neck with one hand while searching for her phone with the other. "Fine. No point in letting him freak out, I guess. He might hurt somebody." She finally pulled it out and stared at it. "He hasn't got a cellphone, but I know a friend of his who does."

As she started the call, Winter politely stepped out of the room to wait. Summer turned the corner and surprised her. "We're done. I think you'll like my decorating. She's going to let her father know where she is now."

Summer approved of this with a brief smile before her face got serious. "That's nice, but we have a visitor. Preston is here."

"What could he possibly want now?" the blue-eyed woman asked with a brow cocked.

Her sister shrugged and led the way back to the living room, where the grumpy-looking Northwest patriarch waited outside their open front door. "I did not appreciate the threat, by the way," he said gruffly to Summer.

"I sent it," Winter said, matching his ire with her own. "Why are you here?"

He straightened his tie with a haughty frown. "Simply following up to ensure you were satisfied with whatever it is you wanted. Is my wealth safe? I shudder to consider the ways you could ruin me with that ridiculous power of yours."

"Don't worry!" Summer said cheerfully. "Now that I have Colonel Greer's number, we don't really need you any longer."

"Wait, wh—no! I haven't even asked the government to make me United States Ambassador to... to whatever your planet is called yet! I need this leverage! I need to  _build relationships_ with your people. Hm, that seems a bit offensive. With you, I mean."

"Save your ambitions for someone who gives a damn," Winter said with a glare. "You wasted our time. I see no need to waste anymore. Are we done?"

The glassy-eyed look Preston had said it all; he had never been rejected this flatly in his life. "Wh-what about my daughter?"

Winter didn't even try to cloak her venom. "What  _about_  her?"

Swallowing his pride was like taking a bite out of a boulder for Preston, but he managed it and took on a more submissive air. "I don't want to use that gun on her again. It has... effects. All right, all right, I apologize for using your presence as a bargaining chip. Can you blame me? First contact with an alien race is a once in a—not even a lifetime, more like a once in a species' history opportunity. I tend to seize opportunities. Forget all that. Won't you take the Pentagon's offer and rid us of this awful curse? Then we'd have no need for the Society."

"What would be in it for us?" Summer asked, her brow raised. "We have no use for your money, or power, or, well, anything."

"Hold on," Winter interjected. "What side effects?"

He looked down his nose at the town nestled in the valley below them. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the average intelligence of a resident of Gravity Falls is somewhere between 'block of limestone' and 'expired yogurt'. Ever since I started assisting the Society, I've kept a little tally of who's been shot the most. Guess on which end of the spectrum the most severely impaired lie?"

"Are you saying the memory gun causes brain damage?" Summer exclaimed with horror. Everyone froze when an unexpected gasp came from behind the twins; they eventually looked to see Wendy, who had arrived at exactly the wrong time. "Oh... oh no. Wendy-"

"No, no, don't m-mind me. I think—I'm just gonna go cry again," she said, pointing and walking away with an open-mouthed frown.

Winter made sure the girl was out of sight before voicing her anger. "And you continue to let them use it?"

Preston looked over both shoulders before whispering a retort. "What other choice do we have? If we stop, thousands of people will realize something is very wrong. How do you think the government will react? I'd bet you my Rolls-Royce they'd concoct something awful. Like a 'terrorist' attack or some such."

"They were already trying to find ways to use nuclear weapons here," Summer murmured thoughtfully. She blinked at Preston's surprise. "Oh? They haven't told you everything either, have they?"

"I would say not!" he replied, squirming with righteous indignation. "I had no idea they would go so far."

"Trust us, we are well-versed in the lengths powerful people will go to to bury their secrets." Winter rubbed her chin for a moment. "Very well. I think we have no choice but to round up all the local magical energy before it does damage – in one way or another. The quicker we can make the Society obsolete, the healthier everyone will be. By the way... do you have any idea who made that device? It's not magical."

"I'm afraid not, but I know who might. Let me arrange a meeting with Ivan. He's been in charge of the Society for quite some time. He likely knows more than I." Preston drew a smartphone from under his pinstriped blazer and poked at the screen. "It may not be possible tonight. Will tomorrow work?"

"That will be fine. I want a decent night's rest for everyone before we throw ourselves into the fray again," Winter said, leaving the conversation. "Excuse me. I want to go check on Wendy."

Summer stayed behind, smiling at Preston until he finally gave her attention. "Of course we'll help Pacifica. She seems okay. Just stop using us as leverage. It isn't very nice."

"You have a deal," he confirmed. "I've messaged Bud. We'll see what he says about a meeting."

"Good! I'm going to go help my sister with Wendy. I'm not sure how much more that poor girl can take."

Preston nodded, turning briefly to motion to his driver, still sitting in the car. The Rolls started up a few seconds later. "Why  _is_  she here, anyway?"

"Well," Summer sighed. "She's going through some, ah, portal-related issues. We're giving her a safe place to stay."

He put on a genuine smile and nodded. "How nice of you. I'm certainly glad you're not the kind of aliens Hollywood keeps making movies about."

She didn't get his insinuation. "What do you mean?" she asked, head tilted.

"Oh, I forgot you might not have  _seen_  movies. The gist of it is that aliens are always invading and killing all of humanity and such. Destroying cities. You know." He turned away and started off the porch. "At any rate, good day. I'll be in touch about our meeting."

"Okay. Goodbye!" Summer lost her chipper mask as she watched Preston's limo drive away. The recollection of Winter's anger that morning – and her own – caused great unease. "I'm not sure I can rule that out," she whispered while shutting the door, "since your government seems to know  _exactly_  how to make us mad."


	32. Victim Zero

Mabel hardly noticed the arrival of the dawn, as she was too lost in her own thoughts. Her legs were beginning to hurt from the hug she'd given them for the past hour. Sitting right in the middle of the bed with Waddles at her left hip, she stared into the darkness. The good news was her long nap and some quiet time alone with Dipper had at least allowed the shock and disgust to fade. The bad news was the vacuum they left behind was filled with a numbness that was just as bad, if not worse. The silence outside, combined with the silence in her mind, made her deeply uneasy. She needed someone to talk to.

And Dipper wasn't it. He was sleeping too soundly for her to disturb without feeling guilty. So she gingerly slipped out of bed and grabbed her smartphone. The on-screen clock told her it was about six in the morning as she dialed.

"Hello? Mabel?"

Winter's voice, definitely. She sighed with relief and settled back on her bed. "Hey. Did I wake you up? I just needed a buddy."

"No, we were already awake. Did something happen?"

"No. I... um." She scratched at her mousy hair and groped for something to say. "How's that woman? Did you help her?" No response, which was answer enough. "Don't hold out on me. Give it to me straight. I can take it."

"Are you sure?"

Mabel swallowed hard, but fought her dread. "Yeah. Hit me."

"Very well. We took a look at her yesterday. I'm not sure there's anything we can do. I think the amount and type of magic she has is locking up her ability to function. We could extract it... but it might be keeping her alive at this point. Removing it could be fatal."

"Frick," she said, sighing with disappointment. "Frick a brick!"

"Mm. For now she's been converted to object form. At least in this state she won't be suffering."

"Fine, I'll take what I can get." Mabel froze as her brother stirred, only relaxing after he was still again. "What else did I miss? What exploded? I've got a feeling something somewhere done blowed up."

"Not... not as far as I know. A few things happened with Wendy and she's staying with us for the moment. I'll let her tell you about them if she wants. Also, someone left a note on our door about watching us. I suspect they mean just  _us_  and not all of you, based on—never mind. It's not important right now."

" _Again_?" Mabel's brow furrowed. "Who would be watching... oh no." Her eyes abruptly narrowed. " _Bill_. Nah, wait, Bill doesn't seem like the note-leaving type."

"Agreed. Since whoever it is was nice enough to tell us, perhaps they don't mean any harm. I'm still suspicious." Winter was silent for a moment. "How are you?"

Mabel shrugged to herself as she stared at the snoozing Waddles. "I'm... I dunno. I think I'm better? I mean I don't feel like crying but I do feel kinda numbish."

"I know the feeling. By the way, Summer and I have decided to remove the magic from the area. Perhaps you and Dipper could come along if you want something else to do? We'll need the journals anyway."

Mabel crossed her free arm, her face crinkling. "Hold up. What does remove mean?"

"Transforming its containers into easily portable objects and taking them home with us."

Her initial reaction to this plan surprised herself. "But... that's what makes Gravity Falls so Gravity Falls-y." She blinked a few times. "Even if it could accidentally screw over the world."

"Wendy said something like that too, but even if the magic doesn't mean to it may not be able to stop itself from irreparably altering your planet. It will be safer back where it belongs."

"I guess." Mabel weighed her options with a few adorable grunts. "Sure. We're in. Anything else I should know?"

"We might be meeting with the Society some time today. Whether you want to tag along is up to you."

"Blegh. I don't know." It was now light enough to see her surroundings, so she distracted herself with looking around. "We'll think about it I guess? I just wanna do something normal-ish for once." Sound from across the way got her attention; Dipper had rolled over and was now facing her. "Give Wendy a high-five for me and broface. I'm gonna try and catch another nap."

* * *

As the morning fully blossomed it became clear that she wasn't the only one who wanted to find a way back to normal. The distinct sounds of an arriving tour group – obnoxious bus engine, muffled conversation, Stan's vocal herding – reached Mabel's ears through the exterior wall. The last of these was enough to finally rouse Dipper from his slumber. "Hrngh?" he groaned, snapping alert when he saw Mabel was already awake. "Oh! Hey. Uh. Sorry. I guess I was exhausted."

"No worries, bro. I just woke up again my own self." She blew at an errant lock a few times, but it would not leave the vicinity of her lips. "Dang it. Just so you know, I signed us up for an adventure with the super-twins. Bring your weird books."

"What?" Dipper cocked his head with worry. "What adventure? Where are we going?"

"Wherever the wind takes us, Dipper! Hopefully somewhere less freaky than the last few days. At least it'll get us outside." Mabel hopped off the bed, trying fruitlessly to pat down her messy hair. "And away from here."

"Away from..." he trailed off as she left the room. As he glanced around, the memories of yesterday and beyond made him cringe faintly. "Maybe she has a point." After another moment of thought, he too got up and looked for clean clothes to wear, then wandered off to the kitchen. A few moments later Mabel came in, clad in a red and pink striped sweater with a front pouch and a gray skirt as he was making a pair of sandwiches. "That was fast."

She waved him off with a smirk. "Yeah, I'm bein' lazy. Is that peanut butter?"

"Sure is. I don't even think it's expired. Little miracles, I guess."

"Woo! Protein and sugar and more sugar. Gimmie." She snatched one off the plate and rammed it into her mouth. "Mmm. Mfmf. Mrrrrrrm," she said, smiling as best she could at Dipper's disapproving look. A flash of reflected sunlight from the window made them look; Winter's dark blue Charger was just coming to a stop in the parking lot. With a loud swallow, she cleared her mouth and frowned. "Looks like the party's about to start."

They met Winter and Summer in the gift shop, where the first thing to throw them off was the way the twins were dressed. The blue-eyed woman was actually in a dress for once, a strapless, knee-length turquoise number with a black stripe that wrapped around her body, and matching wedge heels. Her sister was the one in jeans and sneakers, which were topped off by a black shirt with red raglan sleeves. "Oh, is it opposite day?" Mabel asked. "Dipper! Give me your vest!"

"Dude, stop," he complained, swatting away her attempts to grab him. Once she stopped, he looked at Wendy. She'd come in with the older twins and he couldn't figure out why. "Huh, hey. How did end up with them? Or am I just jumping to conclusions again?"

"No, but don't even ask, dude," she replied, taking up her usual position behind the register. "Why am I here right now? I feel so weird."

"Routine – almost any routine – is more comforting than uncertainty." Winter peered down at the Pines for a moment to gauge their wellness. "Mm. I see Stan is back to tours. Perhaps he has the same idea."

"Maybe. It'll be nice to let my brain empty out for once." Wendy's face screwed up at the ghostly swirling in the back of her consciousness. "However empty it can get, I guess. What are you guys gonna be up to?"

"We're finally going to put our detection to good use!" Summer replied happily. "With the journals' help."

Dipper's face lit up. "Oh yeah, I gotta go get them. Hold on."

Since a tour group arrived from the museum just after he departed, those left behind were stuck with awkward silence – or in the elder twins' case, signing a few more autographs while Stan collected proceeds from their signatures. Summer took this chance to explain their plans for the day via some whispers in the old man's ear. "Eh, fine," he eventually grumbled. "Just be careful."

"Of course," she assured him with a smile. Dipper returned from the living room shortly after, carrying journal two and three, but not one. "Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll be," he replied with a shrug and a weak grin. "Mabel?"

"Yep!" she nodded. "But where are we goin'?"

Winter looked over her shoulder and out the open gift shop door. "For a little walk in the woods."

* * *

"So, like, what's up with those wings on your back, Winter?"

Mabel's question made her glance back as they traveled through the forest. The "wings" in question were two small, black, highly stylized tattoo-like markings, one on each of her shoulder blades. "Those are where we focus our flight magic. Summer has them too."

"I get it. So that's how you fly around," Dipper remarked, flipping through the pages of journal three as he walked.

"Actually, no. We don't want to make a scene when we fly here, so we use our telekinesis. That's why you tingle when we carry you," Summer explained happily. "It also happens to people at home when we do it to them. It's very rare for someone to have the magical strength to lift another person. The feeling can be pretty surprising." She giggled briefly. "And funny."

Mabel darted in front of them to get them to stop. "Hold on, what does 'make a scene' mean? You're already flyin'. That's a scene."

Winter and Summer shared a look before the former shrugged and said, "I suppose it won't hurt to show you. Dipper, stand with your sister."

"Uh, okay."

Once he was in position, the twins put some distance between each other and snapped their fingers. But instead of some random object becoming another random object, they sprouted wings – glittering, huge black appendages with red or blue sparkles strewn throughout their feathers, depending on which woman you looked at. Folded up, they were long enough to drape to their ankles. While Dipper regarded them with silent awe, Mabel started to whine and run in place.

"What?" Summer asked her, head tilted.

"I want them! I want wings! I want  _your_  wings!" she babbled, dashing around to get a better look. "It's like fairy wings and angel wings had a beautiful anti-hero wing child! Gimmie!"

"How cute." The red-eyed woman looked back as Mabel stroked a few of her magical pinions. "If we need to fly really fast or really far, we use these. But because they're so shiny, a lot of people would see us. Even in the daytime."

"No kidding!" Dipper agreed. "You look like angels. You'd attract all the attention, and I do mean  _all_  the attention. I guess you know about our religions by now, right?" He nodded as Winter nodded. "Yeah. No wonder you keep 'em to yourself."

"Exactly." Winter dismissed her wings with another snap. Summer followed suit a moment later, leaving Mabel to groan with disappointment. "We're sorry. Come on, let's keep going. I detect something fairly close by."

Eventually they ended up in a spot that should have been familiar to the older twins, but wasn't – until they sniffed the air. In a particular stand of redwood they detected that fleshy, magical scent again; Summer caught on first and brought the group to a halt. Dipper, reading journal two, ran right into the back of her. "Oof!" he exclaimed, rubbing his nose. "Geez, I feel like I just ran into a statue."

"Sorry." While she looked in one direction, her sister gazed in the other. "Do you smell that?"

While Mabel did smell something, it wasn't the same odor their companions were thinking of. "It's probably either bro-bro or me. Neither of us actually showered so... yeah. Gonna go with him." She sniffed again. "Definitely him. Ew."

"Hey! I'm..." he trailed off, lifting an arm and taking a sniff underneath, "I put on deodorant. I'm good." He watched the identical twins shuffle about. "We can't smell what you're smelling, can we?"

"I doubt it," Winter replied. Her gaze went to the mossy earth. "We came through here after the first time we visited the Mystery Shack. I still can't figure out what this is."

"Moss? It's, uh, it's a plant from the phylum Bryophyta." Before he could go on, odd staring from Mabel made him stop and fidget. "What? I don't know if they have moss on their planet."

"We do," Summer assured him with a cheerful smile. "She means the scent. It seems to be coming from the ground. Should we dig?"

Winter produced a spade from thin air as she dropped to one knee. "Carefully." One spadeful of earth revealed nothing but a few unhappy worms, which she gently tossed aside. On the second try, her tool struck something hard. "Mm?" she murmured, dismissing it and clawing at the soil with her hands. Soon, the end of a bone was exposed – and from experience, she knew it was a human's femur. "Well, then."

"What?" Summer stopped to look at it herself, only to grow more pallid than usual. "Oh my."

"Oh my what?" Mabel darted over to see what they'd found, Dipper close behind. "Is this a bone? What kind of bone? Oh! Is it a baby dinosaur bone?!"

"Ah... probably not." Winter wrapped her fingers around the end and tried to pull it free, only to find it was stuck fast in the dark earth. Unwilling to put too much force on it, she instead magically swept the dirt away to reveal more. The other end of the bone was fused to a second bone, which was barely visible. With Summer's help they kept excavating – even Dipper and Mabel pitched in, using their hands to move the soil. Before long it became clear they'd stumbled on a mass grave. All the victims' skeletons were fused together, forming a literal ball of bones in the ground. The first skull to appear made the Pines turn and groan at various volumes.

Mabel rubbed her eyes and walked away a few steps. Her back was to the group. "Cool. Now I'm in an episode of CSI. At least these guys are dead. You know you've seen some stuff when death's an improvement." As she dropped her hands, motion behind a tree trunk caught her attention. Human-sized and cloaked in mottled green, it was barely visible for a second before vanishing. "Huh...?" Curious, she began to move toward the tree it hid behind.

"The graveyard didn't smell like this," Summer noted, hands on her hips as she stared at their discovery. She glanced over as Mabel kept getting farther away. "Where are you going?"

"Someone's back here!" she shouted in reply. Her eyes remained on the tree as she approached.

"Wh—Mabel! Don't go over there by yourself!" Dipper scolded. He quickly rushed to join her with the older twins right behind him. "What did you see?"

"It looked like a person," she said, pressing her back against the tree in question as they arrived. "Somebody check. Preferably not me 'cause I'm freaking out a little."

Winter and Summer carefully moved around the trunk to investigate. Nothing was there. "I don't see anything," the red-eyed woman noted. She went around while Winter stayed with the kids, scanning the undergrowth for anything out of place. "Nothing," she confirmed upon coming back into view. "Are you sure you saw something?"

"Yeah! Like someone wearing camo—ugh." The memories of their last journey into the woods were too heavy for Mabel to talk through for a moment. "I'm not dead yet, so I guess it's not the guys from last time," she finally added, mopping sweat off her brow. "I swore I saw somebody."

Dipper looked back at the exposed bones with a scowl. "I don't like this. Let's re-bury this stuff and get out of here." He glanced around and started to walk before seeing a square-shaped white leaf of paper on the dirt ahead. "Wait, was that there before?"

Before the kids could rush over to see what it was, Winter magically snatched it up and yanked it over. "Someone's left a note again." She turned it over in her hands to examine the back before returning to the text. In scrawled print was a four-word sentence. "The discovery's first victims?" she read out loud. "What discovery?"

"Can I see it?" He took the note and stared at it for a while. "Wow. And people say my handwriting sucks." He opened journal three and compared the writing in its pages to the note. "I'm gonna go with inconclusive. I can barely read this."

Summer took it upon herself to break away and stride toward the nearest skeleton. Before Winter could speak or even follow, she reached down and grabbed a skull, pulling it free of the clump with a sharp snap. Dipper and Mabel winced, but the older twins had something else to contemplate: a new magical return flowing from the broken bone. She tossed it to Winter with a grim sigh. "Look at the marrow."

It wasn't marrow she found; the internal structure was crystalline, shrieking a ghostly song more akin to the magic in the pit than the mellower cloud strewn through the valley. Without tons of rock in the way, Winter could compare the two signals. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this was magic straight from home."

"Magic? Wait... the portal?" Dipper winced as she haphazardly tossed the skull back onto the pile. "That's kind of disrespectful, man."

Summer looked at him over her shoulder. "More so than what killed them?"

"Uh... you got me there."

"Hey hey hey hey hey, Pine Tree! Put that human part thing back together! I'm waiting on—oh. Oh. It's them. You never heard this! I'm not real!"

Despite the voice's harsh echoing, Mabel and Dipper recognized it immediately and whirled with anger, facing the direction they thought it came from. "Bill!" she yelled. "What the flip are you doin' here?! Show yourself!" Meanwhile, Winter and Summer had dropped into a defensive stance, fingers curled and ready to strike as they looked around for the source.

"There is no Bill! My name is, uh, my name is George!"

Dipper crossed his arms, glancing up as the older twins stood next to him. "You're acting a little weirder than usual, Cipher."

At last the demon popped into sight, pointing an angry black finger at the two sisters and growling. " _You._ "

"Us?" Summer countered with all her usual cheer. "So you're Bill Cipher! How cute!"

"Cute?!" Bill's eyebrow creased with anger, but he maintained his size and color – and his distance. "Do you even know who I am?"

"You're a buttface!" Mabel snapped. "A butt... a butt triangle! A buttangle!" She ignored Dipper's facepalm and sigh and smiled cruelly.

The demon's face dropped with surprise. "I've been alive a long time and I've never been called a buttangle before. Well done, Shooting Star."

"We've read enough about you to get the gist," Winter said. "Did you leave the notes?"

"What's a note?"

"Words you write down on paper for other people to read," Dipper explained through clenched teeth.

"What's  _writing_? What's  _paper_?" Bill cackled at the boy's exasperated growl. "Ha! I'm yanking your branches, Pine Tree. No. I didn't leave any notes. I'm not the note-leaving type."

Mabel pumped a fist. "Nailed it!"

"Look, as interesting as you little squishboxes are, I'm not talking to you with these abominations around." Arms folded, Bill turned his back on the group. A greenish shape in the distance caught his eye. "Hey! I see you! Stay out of this!"

Mabel cocked her head. "Uh, who are you talking to?"

"Nobody. You stay out of the thing I'm telling him to stay out of. No wait, I mean you stay out of me staying out of... I..." Bill rubbed his edges with a frustrated sigh as he faced them again. All his attention was on Summer and Winter. "What are you freaks, huh? You're not like any humans I've ever seen, and trust me, I've seen a  _lot_  of humans."

They shared a brief glance before Summer stepped back and put her hands on Mabel and Dipper's shoulders. "Let's let my sister handle this, shall we? We'll wait over there."

"By the  _mass grave_?" Mabel objected, motioning at the exposed bones.

"Don't be silly. I meant over there." She nodded at the blue-eyed woman. "We'll be around."

Winter nodded back with a light smile, watching them move through the trees and out of sight before her turquoise orbs went back to Bill. "What do you think we are?"

Eye widening, Bill floated back a bit before regaining his composure. "Wh-what? Hey! I'm asking the questions here."

"Why do you seem afraid?"

"What did I  _just_  say?!" He swelled up and reddened, looming over Winter as if he'd become the evening sun. All she did was fold her arms and stare at him silently. "You will fear  _me_!" he bellowed. "Everyone fears me! I'm scary! Start being scared!"

Winter's light smile blossomed into a dark, angry smirk. "No."

The demon deflated in an instant, hovering away from her with a piercing stare. "What are..." His body began to display a series of images – a manila folder full of white pages, a dark cave with a metal square in its wall, and a human shape curled up against what seemed to be a cage. The slideshow stopped on a man in a lab coat surrounded by scientific equipment. His back was turned. In a second more the yellow brick pattern washed it out. "So much like... but you're not! I don't understand you and it's incredibly annoying!"

She detached from the earth and hovered, putting Bill at eye-level. He swung his cane wildly at her – not once coming close, as he was unwilling to move nearer. "Who were you talking to?"

"None of your—hmm. Wait." His eye rolled in thought. "I'll tell you. I'll tell you if..." A blue flame engulfed his right hand as he raised it. "If you tell  _me_  something. Huh? A little exchange of ideas. Isn't that what your species is built on?"

There was no controlling her grin any longer. Winter's left hand lit up with a sparkling black flame. "Are you sure?"

"Gah!" Bill zipped away, shielding himself with his top hat. "I do that! Not people! Wait. You're not human, are you? You're something  _else_."

"Now you understand." Those majestic black wings unfurled from her back again, spreading wide. "I am the child of necessity and paranoia – one of a set of clockwork princesses from a world beyond your imagination. My name is Winter. You wish to make a deal?" She pointed her left palm at him; the flesh withdrew, revealing a flat, diamond-shaped black crystal with gold trim. The flame around her hand exploded in size and started to make a strange sound, akin to an endless chime. "Then come shake the hand of despair."

Bill did no such thing, instead throwing up his arms and vanishing with an unpleasant screech. Still smiling to herself, Winter concealed the crystal, dismissed her wings, and dropped gracefully back to the ground. "Sister?" she called loudly. "We're done for now."

A minute or so went by before she returned with the Pines, apparently in the middle of a conversation. "Mabel, I'm not sure if altering your body is a good idea."

"I don't care! Make like the Red Bull and give me wings, girl!" she huffed in reply. "You could totally just undo it if you mess up. You're a sorceress. Come on! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Mabel, let it go. Seriously."

Summer limited her response to a smile, keeping her focus on Winter. "Hmm. So, how did it go?"

"We have a problem," she said. "Bill showed... I'm not sure how to put this. His body was like a television. There were pictures on it."

"Oh, yeah," Mabel confirmed with a nod. "He did that when Gideon summoned him. What did you see?"

Winter idly dusted off her shoulder and looked around. "The cave under the Mystery Shack where we found that woman – and possibly the woman herself. He either knows her or invaded the mind of someone who did."

"Oh, great," Dipper said with a sigh. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If he works through dreams he probably knows and sees a lot of stuff. Yeesh. Freaks me out. What do we do about it?"

"For now? Nothing. I don't think he knows about her current state." After straightening her dress, she turned to stare off through the forest at something only she and Summer could see. "Let's just continue on. As I said earlier, there's something nearby. And it isn't the grave."

"Great! Let's blow this-" Mabel hesitated, making a disgusted face at the skeletons. "-ick-sicle stand."

Despite her revulsion, she helped them carefully bury the bones. So did Dipper. "Wow, look at me. Gravedigger. I bet mom would be thrilled."

"It doesn't bother us so much. We've dug a couple of graves in our time," Summer assured him. The odd tenor of his silence made her glance over. "Our other sisters."

"Wait, hold on." Mabel dropped the handful of dirt she was carrying and stared at them. "What other sisters?"

"Spring and Autumn. The ones that didn't survive birth." The red-eyed woman cocked her head. "Didn't Wendy tell you? Winter told her about it the night we saw Wilhelm for the first time."

"She absolutely did not!" Mabel almost flung herself at Summer, latching on in a tight hug after making contact. "You!" she waved at Winter. "Get over here! Hug time! Right now!"

"But-"

"No room for buts! Only hugs!"

Dipper was content to remain out of the embrace, but he did offer a "Dude, that sucks. Sorry." to the pile of condolences Mabel was dumping on the twins. Despite the reason, though, a large part of him was glad to see his sister acting so close to herself again. "Don't squeeze them too hard, man. Come on. Let's go find this magic whatever it is before the sun fries us."


	33. Coming Home

Fifteen minutes later, they happened upon a noisy stream, one which traced a curvy path in both directions as far as they could see – which wasn't far, given the sequoias looming over them from all sides. After lifting the Pines to the far bank, Summer and Winter walked across the water and kept on going up the hill on the other side. Dipper had to clear his throat to get their attention. "Word of advice?"

"Yes?" Winter acknowledged, not looking back.

"Don't walk on water in public either. People will freak the heck out."

"Oh, we know," Summer said with a snicker. "We read that book." As the party reached the top, the older twins paused to get their bearings. "Over there?" she asked Winter, pointing a finger.

She nodded once, rubbing her chin in contemplation. "Mm. Feels like a cluster. Like the fairies."

"This ain't fairy territory," Mabel pointed out. "I don't think. Unless the whole valley is." With a shrug, she skipped down the hill ahead of them. "We come in peace!" she yelled. "Soos isn't with us!"

Dipper, shaking his head, followed her with the twins at his side. "You think our shrinklights would work on them?"

"I'm not sure. They seem to be purely magic." Winter's head was on a swivel, constantly checking their position against the rest of the magical sparks she could detect. Summer appeared to be doing much the same. "Hold on. This cloud appears to be vertical."

"Vertical? What do you mean?" His train of thought was disrupted by Mabel darting out of sight. "Hey! Come back!" he demanded, running toward the redwood she'd gone around. "Dude! You're gonna get Bill-napped or something! Use the buddy system!" She was stopped not far ahead of him; thankful that she'd listened for once, Dipper didn't even bother to wonder why until reaching her. "Please don't run off like that." Now he looked where she did, at the ground. At the tree roots. Except these didn't look like roots at all. "Um, is that a giant wooden foot...?"

It certainly was – a perfect copy of a human foot, five toes and nails included, but a hundred times bigger than life size. Mabel put her hand on Dipper's chest and began to push him along as she retreated. "Slowly," she whispered. "Don't wanna wake this thing up."

He backed away carefully, staring into the canopy. The rest of the tree seemed normal, save the face-like markings three-quarters of the way up its trunk. "Where's the other foot?"

"Don't know, don't care."

The older twins arrived, putting themselves in front of the kids. "We've found our magic," Summer noted quietly. She rolled up her sleeves and eyed the tree. "What do we do?"

With them present, Mabel felt a lot more confident about confronting whatever it was. "I got an idea." She reached into her sweater pouch and pulled out her magic flashlight, turning the crystal around. Before anyone could stop her, she fired a pink beam at the redwood appendage. Not only did it shrink, but so did the tree to which it was attached. The monstrosity came to life with an increasingly adorable roar as it shriveled up. Now no taller than Dipper, its sudden charge was less than threatening. "Pffff! That's adorable!" she said, giggling as it waddled over and beat on Winter with its shrunken limbs. "Hey, hey, don't mess up her dress. She looks super-cute."

With a furrowed brow and a flick of her finger, Winter telekinetically knocked back the creature and sighed. "Its magic feels just as strong as it did before. Handy knowledge, I suppose." She watched as the tree proceeded to assault her sister, with equally little effect. "Is this one in the journal, Dipper?"

He already had journal three open and was whipping through the pages. "Just a second. Juuuuust a... nope, not in here. Crap, I should have brought the black light." He tucked that book away and brought out journal two just as the mini-tree began to whack on him. "Excuse you. I'm busy."

Mabel grabbed it up in a hug and started to squeal. "Ohhhhh my gosh I am so gonna let this thing loose in Pacifica's yard." Her face dropped after a brief cackle. "On second thought, that would make me such a witch. Maybe I'll just bring you home with me. Hrm. Your name is officially Redwood McTreeington!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, wow. That's awful, even by your standards."

"It's adorab—ow splinters ow ow ow." Mabel jumped a little as the beast became a plush version of itself. She looked over to see who'd done the snapping and found a smiling Summer. "Thanks. Redwood was starting to get on my nerves."

"You're welcome." Patting at her hair, she looked around the forest. "I don't feel anything else too close. Do you?"

"No." Winter's attention went back to Mabel's new toy. "I'm not sure we should let you keep that."

"Come on, what's the worst that co—mmph!"

Dipper was the one to shut her up, covering her mouth with his hand. "Don't tempt fate. Don't. So many things could happen I want to puke just thinking about it. Let them have the thing."

"But Dipper! It's adorable!"

"Yeah, it kinda is. Do you want it so close to the portal? What if it explodes or something?" he countered with anxious hand motions. "No thanks, man!"

"Oh my gosh, it's a plushie. What's the wo—mmph!" This time she slapped his arm away. "Stop that!"

"Enough," Winter said, smoothing back her hair. "Let's move on to the next... mm?" A new sensation made her look around in confusion. Summer, off to her left, was doing it too.

Both the Pines blinked up at her, uttering an uncertain "What?"

"New sparks." Summer walked toward the hole where the tree monster had been standing and found several of the awful white insects skittering around, looking for the wooden beast that was once there and screeching occasionally. "Well, well." The bugs suddenly all turned her way and approached. "Oh my." They weren't after her, however; instead the horde darted past her legs and made a beeline for Mabel. They were prevented from reaching her by Summer's magic.

"Ew!" the girl said, face twisted in disgust as she watched them writhe and chatter in the air. "Squish 'em! Quick! Before they do something stupid!"

"They're not going anywhere, don't worry." Winter took hold of a few and brought them closer to look at. "Why were they moving toward you?" On a hunch, she stretched out a hand and pulled the tree plushie from her grip, floating it a few yards away. Then she let the bugs drop. All of them moved toward it, jumping weakly when they arrived. Brow creased curiously, she moved the object around through the air and watched the white bugs give chase. "They sense the magic."

Dipper looked on in amazement. "Dude... wait, why didn't they sense _your_ magic, though?"

Summer also dropped her captives, who quickly joined the pursuit. "It's probably not the same. We've been theorizing that the magic here is changing itself to avoid destroying the environment. We can't feel it through bones or stone, but..." She glanced over and magically yanked a fallen branch off the ground, whipping it into a stone box that Winter dropped the plushie into. Even with the lid on, however, the bugs were still able to track it as she made it dance. "But they can, I guess."

Mabel, hands on her hips, didn't care in the least about this revelation. "Whatever. Somebody get a can of Raid!"

Winter began to deconstruct the whole experiment, dismissing the box back into its former shape and turning the bugs into what looked like gumballs. Summer picked them up and put them into her pockets as the blue-eyed woman moved back toward the kids. "You should be glad. This is good news."

"How so?" Dipper asked, now fanning himself with his hat.

"If you had magic, they'd be chasing you."

"Hey." His eyes lit up. "Hey! I'm normal! I mean besides the birthmark."

"And the awkward. And the dorkiness. And the way you talk in your sleep. And the way you put on socks. And the fact that you can't talk to _anyone_ without using huge words. And the freaky amount of knowledge you have about Japanese cartoons. And the way you whisper to yourself when you're around Wen-"

"Okay! Mabel! We get it. Thanks," he snapped. He cleared his throat and sighed. "Phew. At least I'm clean." He thought about Mabel's last barb, however, and his heart crashed into his shoes. "Wait, are these things gonna attack Wendy since she's showing her power now? How does this work?"

Both women opened their mouths to assure him otherwise, but were silent when they realized they couldn't actually guarantee anything. "Good question," Summer finally admitted while pulling out her phone. "No reception. Just a second, let me climb up and look for a signal."

Her method of "climbing" was to zip right up and disappear into the canopy above. They all watched her depart – then Dipper picked the worst moment to make a quip about their change in wardrobe. "Heh, good thing she's not the one wearing the dress or that could have been weird," he said, laughing a little afterward. Winter peered at him. "...d-did I say that out loud? I, uh..."

Mabel, tree plushie again in hand, rubbed her face with a groan. "Bro-bro, just shut your face."

"I've had to deal with that at home. It isn't funny," Winter stated, her words soaked with too-bitter venom. Knowing she'd come on too strong, she tried to apologize. "Sorry. That's a pet peeve of mine." When it got quiet again, her ears pricked at noises echoing through the woods. She moved the group toward the shelter of a redwood. "I hear something."

"Huh?" After a second, Mabel heard it too. "People talkin'?"

Before long, Dan Corduroy and his merry band – rather, his _rowdy_ band – of sons came through the trees, each holding a hatchet or axe of some sort. The boys were in a tremendous argument about something or other. Their father, bearing a weary expression, managed to ignore the fighting as he pressed on. Of course, he wasn't really certain just why Winter and the Pines were there, but he offered a friendly greeting anyway – one he had to shout over his children. "Hey, what brings you three out here?"

"Just out for a stroll!" Dipper yelled in return. "I'd ask you the same thing but I think I know what's up."

"Ha, yeah, scrawny boy-child." He turned to his offspring and bellowed, "Quiet! Daddy's talking!" so loud it seemed to rattle the very ground itself. It worked. "Thank you. Go pick something for us to cut. Something real good this time. I've had enough of the Northwests whining about our wood." One of his sons chuckled, drawing his ire. "Get your mind out of the gutter, David." As they departed, scuffling once more, he thundered over to Winter and company. "How is my baby girl?" he asked, having gone from mighty to meek so fast it made Mabel and Dipper's heads spin.

"She's fine. Summer is checking on her now." Winter regarded him with a strange mask of frigid pleasantness. "We know what you did to her."

"Um, what?" Dipper blinked. "I missed something."

Dan shed his hat, clasping his hands in front of him and looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Ma'am, I had to. If she knew the truth..."

"I'm out!" Mabel blurted as she threw her arms up in the air. "If you want me, I'm gonna be behind this tree. I ain't in no mood for anymore of this truth crap." This time, however, Dipper grabbed her sleeve and held her back. "Unhand me, you noodle-armed brigand."

"Don't you think we should hear this?" he asked her lowly. "She's one of our best friends."

The blue-eyed woman had come to a realization, though. From what she had seen, Dan loved his daughter dearly. There had to be a reason – and she knew if the kids heard it they would never be able to keep the secret... especially not Dipper. Too heavy a burden already sat on Wendy's shoulders; she decided to intercept _this_ weight before it reached her. "You stay here," she commanded, pointing at the young twins. "Mister Corduroy, let's walk and talk."

"But!" Dipper was silenced by Winter's frigid glance.

"Don't argue. Wait for my sister to return." Only after some space was between the two groups did she speak again in hushed tones. "I know you must have meant well. What did you make her forget?"

He avoided her piercing gaze by looking off to the side. "I don't know if I should—you know. Things happen around here. Straaaaaange things. I wouldn't want you to get caught up in 'em."

"Summer and I know about the memory eraser. We've even met some of the Society. We know enough."

This made Dan stop in his tracks and finally meet her eyes. "You... you do? Do you know about the _magic_?"

Winter lifted him briefly with her power, then flashed him a little smile just after his feet were on the ground again. "You tell me."

While she fully expected the shock on his face, the relief – in the form of a smile and a hug – was bemusing. "You! You – no wonder she went to you! She knew! Can you... can you help her? Can you take it away?"

Lost in his arms – quite literally, as they seemed to be larger around than her torso – she struggled to give him a pat on the back. "If that's what she wants, perhaps we can. Why did you have her memory erased in the first place?"

His answer was to break away, sit roughly and hide his face behind those massive hands. Despite his efforts to stifle it, the crying was obvious; a patient Winter stood quietly by and waited for him to collect himself. This process took so long that Summer dropped from the trees over by the Pines, saw her sister was gone, and had walked over to meet her by the time he caught his breath. "Is she okay?" he asked.

She nodded, smiling cheerfully despite her confusion. "Fine, fine. What did I miss?"

Dan hefted himself to his feet with one more sniffle. "This ain't the first time Wendy's done that mind-grabby thing. The first time it scared her so bad she... she's why the car accident happened. She accidentally killed Whitney."

Dumbstruck, neither woman knew how to respond until Winter finally whispered, "Oh my."

"Yeah." Dan turned to stare off through the woods. His sons' ruckus echoed off the trees, as did the impacts of their blades against some object. "Preston was behind them on the highway. When he stopped to help 'em she told him about the 'power' that came from her hands. If it'd been anyone else, they probably would have taken her from me too. That's how I ended up cuttin' trees for the Northwests. To pay off that debt." He inhaled sharply to stave off another round of tears. "You can't tell her. Please. It would..."

"We're not. You can't tell anyone what I did either."

Dan nodded at Winter and raised his right hand. "I swear. You girls might be the only ones that can save us from this crap. Ivan oughta talk to you."

"You know Ivan?" Summer asked, her brow raised.

"Sure. Nobody knows these woods better than me. I go around at night on weekends and check the valley for new... what's the word? Anom... aomon..." He trailed off with a frown.

"Anomalies. Mm. We're supposed to meet with him at some point anyway." Winter glanced at Dipper and Mabel as she folded her arms. "Her secret is safe with us, but she still needs to know. I suggest you're the one that breaks the news."

"I couldn't! It would hurt her too much. She'd hate me."

Suddenly looking sullen, Summer pawed at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were locked on the soil. "She'd hate herself more. Besides, she already knows something is wrong. It's better to let her face it. Trust us. Anything can be forgiven."

Winter's face was blank, but her tone was concerned. "How you want to handle it is up to you. Until then, this conversation never happened."

"All right." All three of them began to walk back. "My wife used to walk in the woods in shoes like those," he noted, motioning at Winter's wedge heels. "Never figured out how."

A smile bent her thin lips as Summer giggled. "It's not easy. I wouldn't even be wearing them if Summer hadn't made me."

Dan said his goodbyes halfway there, leaving them to return to the antsy Pines alone. Mabel had her brother in a headlock. "Don't ask what happened!" she chided him. "I know you wanna!"

"I won't!" he yelled, smacking her arm. "Stop choking me out!" Reluctantly, she released him. Straightening his vest with an annoyed huff, he regarded the older twins and tried to smile. "Whatever it was, we'll deal with it whenever. See? I didn't ask."

"I got my eye on you, broface." Mabel warned. Summer plucked the tree plushie from her grip. "Awwww."

"I'll trade you," the red-eyed woman said. She snapped a nearby bramble into a rainbow-shaped and colored plushie with beady black eyes and a huge smile. "How's this?" Everyone winced at the pitch of Mabel's joyous squeal. "I guess I did okay."

"Yeah. She loves rainbows." Dipper paused to rub at his ear with a wince. "So what else is close by?"

Winter stared up at the blue sky beyond the weave of branches. "It's about lunch time, isn't it?"

"Half past noon," Summer confirmed with the help of her phone. Dipper and Mabel's sweaty, tired states made her frown. "Let's go back for lunch before you two pass out. You don't look so good."

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea," he admitted, mopping his brow. "You guys haven't even broken a sweat but I feel like I'm gonna die."

They headed back toward the creek, walking – or in Mabel's case, skipping – at a leisurely pace. Behind them, leaning into view around one of the great redwoods, was someone in a hooded, camouflage jacket who watched them for a moment before moving to follow.

* * *

Afternoon turned the air from stuffy to absolutely unbearable, a phantom soup that sucked the life out of the Pines until they were wilted, grumpy shells. Meanwhile, the older twins looked fresh as daisies, barely sporting a sheen on their pale skin.

And that annoyed Mabel to no end. "What the fudge," she said abruptly, motioning at Winter. "You look like someone photoshopped your skin! Except in real life!"

The insinuation flew right over her head as she examined her arms. "What?"

"She's mad because you don't look tired enough," Dipper said. "No, I'm serious." On closer inspection, however, her true complaint became more obvious – and something, he realized, wasn't right. "Wait... she's got a point. Your skin looks way too dry."

"That's what you get for being fit!" Summer said cheerfully, flexing with both arms. "Oh. I rhymed. How fun."

He didn't buy it for a second. "Uh, no. You're not sweating enough. Fitness hasn't got _that_ much to do with how you regulate your body temperature."

"It doesn't? Um..." For guidance she looked to Winter, who glanced back with an equal amount of anxiety. Then her ruby eyes lit up with the perfect lie. "How hot do you think it gets on our planet?"

Dipper's face dropped in contemplation. "I—good point. Didn't think of that."

Winter tacked on some truth to fill it out and ensure no more questions would be asked. "And cold. The region we're from has some very dramatic shifts in climate."

"Right. Sorry. I just—it's you guys look so much like us that sometimes I forget you're aliens, you know."

Summer dropped back to give him a pat on the hat. "We understand."

As they passed beyond the treeline and back into the Mystery Shack's clearing, the sunlight boosted the heat to even more unbearable levels. Mabel used what was left of her strength to dash for the house, but Dipper had nothing left to give. Since a new bus full of tourists was just unloading, neither Winter nor Summer felt safe enough to magic up some sort of relief. Eventually he made it to the gift shop porch and more or less fell through the open door. They heard Wendy exclaim with surprise. "Mm. I suppose it is a bit warm," Winter admitted, shielding her eyes against the sun. "We should have come in the winter."

"And gotten buried in the snow?" Summer also looked to the sky. "That might have been..." Against the washed-out sea of blue was a weird little white shape; a small airplane, it turned out, flying slowly from her left. "...interesting."

In they went. Mabel was nowhere to be seen, though the pitch and tone of her whining said she'd landed in the living room. Wendy was over a face-up Dipper on the gift shop floor, fanning him with her trapper hat. "Dude!" she said, patting him on the cheek. "Wake up!"

He was red-faced and squirming slightly. A huge smile split his face. "Noooooooo. I'm having a dream that Wendy's massaging my face."

The redhead's brow creased. "I kind of am, man."

"Sure you are. I know you're..." Slowly, his eyes began to open. "Mab...el?" He stared at Wendy for ages. "Huh. What do you know?"

Rolling her eyes, Wendy pulled him to his feet. "Anyway, see something weird out there? Weirder than usual, I mean. I guess."

"More of the bugs." He rubbed at his eyes with the backs of his hands and groaned. "Check with them for the details. I need fluid of some kind and it's probably gonna be Pitt."

Once he'd stumbled out – bouncing off the door frame with a cutesy grunt as he left – Wendy turned her attention to the sisters. "What's he talkin' about? Where'd you find the bugs?"

"We'll explain." Summer looked down at the tree monster plushie and blinked. "Where _is_ its other foot?"

Winter smoothed her hair down with a half-shrug. "Who knows. Wendy... I have an idea I want to test and I could use your help. Would you mind?"

The redhead cocked a brow. "I guess. As long as it doesn't involve something awful."

* * *

So of course it did. After the Shack was closed for the day and the sun was beginning to set, Wendy found herself standing on the side opposite where the bottomless pit was located, between the building and the treeline behind her. Winter and Summer were there as well, the latter tossing a green gumball in her right hand. The kids, Stan, and Soos, were still inside. "Okay, so, uh... what's going on?" the redhead asked anxiously.

"I want to see if the bugs can detect your power," Winter explained. "We're only going to release one."

"And it won't get anywhere near you," Summer assured her happily.

Wendy raised her hands in defense as the gumball inflated into a glistening white insect and started to make noise. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, is that thing gonna try and chew on me? 'Cause I'm not too sure about this if it is..." A little scream escaped her lips as Summer put the bug down and it started to dart through the grass. "Dude! Warn me first!"

Winter crossed her arms, watching it run. "Relax."

Wendy did anything but, constantly retreating and moving and complaining whenever the insect came her way. It traced a seemingly random path around the yard, never skittering for more than a few seconds before changing direction. Suddenly, it stopped. "What's it doing?" Wendy asked loudly. "I... I think I liked it better when it wasn't sitting still."

"Good question." The blue-eyed woman walked over to it and peered down. "If it doesn't detect us, it doesn't detect you, and it doesn't detect what's in the pit, then what _does_ it detect?"

"Besides one-footed tree monsters," Summer added with a smile. The bug was on the move again; both sisters followed while Wendy trailed a good distance behind. "It's heading toward that nearest spark over there."

"At least it's not trying to eat me," Wendy muttered uncomfortably.

Yanking it back with her telekinesis before it could reach the trees, Winter snapped the bug back into a gumball and dropped it into her cleavage. The three of them stared into the forest. "Those must be the only sparks they can feel. Why?"

"I'm not sure." Now Summer was the one crossing her arms. Her next words were louder. "We see you, by the way."

"Huh?" Wendy squinted into the orange pall. "See wh-" Then the shape became apparent: a hooded figure barely visible in the light between trunks, approaching slowly. "Oh, come on. What is it with people and hoods around here, man?"

It wasn't a red-clad Society member, though. The camouflage dress made Summer blink. "Who are you?"

"I mean you no harm, I assure you. I doubt I could harm you anyway." A male voice, somehow familiar to the twins and Wendy – but they couldn't put their finger on why. He stopped after just getting into the clearing. His hood shifted; now he was looking at Wendy. "Including you, miss."

"If you're so friendly, stop hiding," she fired back, a hand on her hip.

He chuckled faintly. "That's not why I'm keeping my face a secret." His attention returned to the twins. "I know you have Bellissima. Were you able to help her?"

Winter furrowed her brow. "You left the note."

"I did."

"Mm." She rubbed her chin for a moment. "No. There's too much magic in her body. It's affecting her ability to do anything. I'm not sure if we can extract it safely either."

Before their guest could respond, the back door of the Shack flew open and Pines of all sorts spilled out, bearing down on them with various battle cries. Stan wielded a shotgun; his great niece and nephew brandished a shovel and baseball bat respectively. Soos brought up the rear – he was in a much less flustered state, too busy snacking on some sort of chips. He was the first to speak. "'Sup, dude? Or dudette." He peered at the stranger. "Pretty sure you're a dude but I don't wanna assume."

"Yeah, yeah," Stan interrupted. "Look, get off my property and leave us alone. You're scaring Mabel."

"I saw you earlier!" she said, pointing at his camouflage. "He's been following us! Hit him! Hit him in the shins!"

"Stanford Pines, put that blunderbuss away," the stranger quipped. "You look absolutely ridiculous."

"Wait a minute." Stan lowered his gun, staring. "I know that voice."

"You do?" Dipper glanced at his metal bat. "Can I put this down, then?"

"Please introduce us," Summer said, tapping her foot impatiently.

Stan waved his free hand at the stranger. "Go on, old man. It's fine. We're all friends here."

He pulled the hood back, revealing salt and pepper hair, oval glasses, and a neatly trimmed mustache. His skin was nearly as fair as Wendy's. Winter and Summer immediately picked up on his stately demeanor and stared at him. "Wilhelm told me about you, but I felt your presence long before. When the government didn't contact me about it, well, I got a bit suspicious and came here." He had to pause and let Stan shake his hand. The old men shared a little laugh. "It's been quite a while."

"You ain't kidding, Dietrich. Thought you'd be dead by now," Stan joked. He motioned to the identical twins. "You saw these two from a mile away, huh?"

He nodded, adjusting his glasses. "They are by far the most powerful presences I have ever encountered."

"There's a reason for that," Summer assured him with a bright grin. "I kind of assumed you were dead like your brother. No offense."

"None taken," Dietrich said with a smile of his own. "As I have learned, sometimes magic just doesn't want to let you go."


	34. 10-13-1984

"Dietrich," Mabel said, mostly to herself, as she stared up at him. "The brother of the baby-killer guy?"

Despite her blunt wording, he smiled gently down at her and shrugged. "That's one way to put it."

The wheels in Dipper's head were spinning. "You. You were there. You worked on it! You can help us-"

"Hold on, kid," Stan said, getting between the young twins and Dietrich. "We got some catchin' up to do."

"I have neither the time, nor the patience, for you two to reminisce," Winter said flatly. Her attention went to Dietrich. "What do you know about Bellissima?"

"Plenty," he replied while shedding his jacket. After some adjustments to his white collared shirt, he waved at the shack. "Shall we go in? Dreadfully hot out here." He regarded the dry skin of Winter and her sister with mild curiosity. "Not that you two seem to mind."

Mabel moved to fill him in. "Of course they don't mind, they're a-" And then she had second thoughts. "Uh, maybe those beans should stay in the can."

"Aliens? I guessed."

Stan rested his shotgun on his shoulder and started walking toward the house, expecting everyone to follow. "I didn't know you could sniff out E.T.s too."

"I cannot." Dietrich glanced at the sisters as they fell in beside him. "But I'm not dumb enough to believe we have the means to contain that much magical energy. Even Bellissima herself would be vaporized trying to hold _that_ much."

"Okay, so you know about her. You can help her, right?" Dipper asked with a nervous grin. "Right?"

He wouldn't even look at the boy; instead he seemed content to stare blankly ahead. "Hmm. Stanford has a point. There is much to catch up on."

Before Winter could press her point again, Summer chimed in. "Oh, let them have a minute, sister. The world isn't going anywhere."

She placed a hand on her hip, glaring ahead. "How can we be sure?"

Summer didn't have an answer for that one. "Well, I...?"

"It will hold for the moment." Dietrich held open the door for everyone. "Please, after you." Wendy, the last to enter, shot an odd look his way as she hastened past.

They all gathered in the living room, which barely had the space to hold them. No one felt like sitting. "So, uh... place probably doesn't look like you remember, huh," Stan admitted as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "Yeah."

"It's not so different," Dietrich corrected him. He looked through the open door into the gift shop. "Except _that_."

Dipper looked as well. "Don't even go in there, man. There are eyeballs and bad bumper stickers everywhere. Everything we sell is probably made of lead or mold or something."

"I shall keep that in mind." He turned to the old con-man and frowned a little. "I would ask what you've been up to, but I already have a good idea."

Stan folded his arms, unable to make eye contact. "Yeah. Leave that for later."

"I'm not judging. My sins are far worse than yours." Dietrich tapped on the fish tank, trying to get a reaction from the lobster inside. "Dinner?"

"Heck no! He's mine." Mabel pressed her face to the glass. "Isn't that right, Lob-Lob? Shhh, it's okay. Gideon's still in jail."

Winter, tucked away in a corner and looming as usual, was clearly losing her patience. "Can we-"

He glanced at her, then at Stan. "Is the device still here?"

"Devi—oh. Oh boy." Dipper broke out in a huge smile. "Man, we've got something to show you."

"We sure do," Stan agreed with an equally huge smirk. "Come on."

"I'll—uh, keep watch," Wendy muttered. "In the gift shop."

Soos spoke the truth for both of them. "Look dudes, I don't wanna go down there because it's horrible now. I'll hang out with Wendy."

"I don't blame either of you." Stan weaved a path to the gift shop, patting both on the back as he went. "Anybody who's willing, come on."

"I'ma pass too," Mabel said, pointing toward the stairs. "My... back hurts. Yeah. From being awesome." Dipper groaned at her lie. "What? My greatness is a huge weight, bro."

Stan shook his head with a smile. "Just go on, we'll be back in a while." He watched Dipper chase her out and up the steps before nodding toward the gift shop. Once he'd gotten Dietrich and the identical twins beyond the vending machine door, the serious talk began. "Did you have something to do with that girl?"

Dietrich clasped his hands behind his back as Stan entered the elevator code. "I certainly did."

For some reason, his answer made Stan cackle. "What, you get turned into a 'consultant' too? I shoulda known. They probably would've taken Wilhelm if he hadn't got arrested."

His brown eyes narrowed. "Perhaps so. Although whether it would have been better than prison is another matter."

"Uh... you're soundin' awful vague. Whenever you sound vague it's bad."

Dietrich chuckled lowly to himself. While he laughed, the elevator doors slid open with a pained creak. "Let us reminisce for real, Stanford. Away from the world. Close to our transgressions."

"Wow. He sounds a lot like you do, sister," Summer pointed out with a cheeky smile.

Winter rolled her eyes a bit. "Is that an insult or a compliment?"

Nobody spoke for the next few moments – partially because of the tight quarters in the elevator, and partially because no one knew what to say. Dietrich was at the head of the group as they went into the underground lab. He saw it the moment he stepped out. "No." Steps quickening, he ran toward the portal room. "No!"

"Huh? What? Rich! Wait!" Stan yelled, pushing past the twins to catch him. "What?!"

The foursome regrouped when the old doctor stopped in the portal's chamber to gaze up into the abyss at its center. It was still off, but some of the blue lights were lit. "How did you..."

Stan anxiously brushed that question off and asked his own. "Why do you look so terrified? Do you know something I don't?"

Dietrich hesitated replying at first. He shed his glasses, stared at the lenses, and fought a war with himself about what to say next. Several seconds passed before he spoke. "I know many things you don't."

"Uh..." Stan said. He and the twins were staring now. "What have _you_ been up to, Dietrich? 'Cause I'm getting a bad feeling all of a sudden."

Winter broke away from the group and leaned against the metal triangle. She pinned the old doctor down with icy eyes. "I don't care where you start, just start."

Once more, she failed to get her wish. "Why did you tu— _how_ did you turn it back on?!" he demanded, waving angrily at Stan. "Who told you you could? Are you insane?"

Stan raised his hands and backed away. It was one of the few times the twins had seen him look so caught off-guard. "Whoa, whoa! Look, I know you weren't here for what happened in '84. Let me explain! Stanley came back here and worked on this thing, right? To decommission it. Something happened though. He's in there, Dietrich, and thanks to my nephew I've finally got a chance to get him back." He left the conversation quickly, dashing into the next room to grab journal one from the desk. He returned, waving it around. "These things have the activation sequence in them in code! It's crazy. There's three of them in the series. I dunno who wrote 'em, but-"

Dietrich took the old book out of his grasp and flipped it open. In an instant he squinted with... what emotion was it? None of them could decide, but they knew it wasn't exactly positive. "Hmm. The handwriting seems familiar," he stated flatly. He didn't even bother turning a page before handing it back. "Where did you find them?"

"Dipper found number three in the woods somewhere. Number two was with a kid named Gideon Gleeful – don't ask me where he got it. Number one..." Stan straightened his bolo tie and frowned. "Number one was already here. I found it in Stanley's bedroom the day I got back to town."

"Ah, yes. Three days _after_ I left Gravity Falls. For good, I thought."

Stan's jaw nearly slammed into the stone floor. "Wait, what? You were still here? But—but you… I thought you got run out of town when we did!"

"For a brief time." He walked to the portal and placed a hand on the cold steel. "My brother was a sacrifice. A dog and pony show to draw all eyes while they swept Apollyon under the biggest, darkest, deepest rug they could find. Do you know what that broom caught? Everything. Even my existence. I officially died in 1963 – but with the Department of Defense's help I remained close to Gravity Falls."

Stan moved a few steps nearer to him. "What were you doin'?"

He issued a stilted laugh. "Why, I was in charge of the crucible that produced America's secret army, Stanford! At least until they spun off the work into Project Briathos. All the Apollyon research went right into the hands of that idiot McGucket."

"McGucket... Fiddleford? Fiddleford H. McGucket?"

"Who?" Summer asked, head cocked.

"Don't insult him. I am referring to his brother." Dietrich's face became wistful. "Fiddleford was an amazing scientist. Whatever happened to him?"

"He—well, he lives in the junkyard and talks to possums. Guy's been off his rocker for a while, or so I've heard. Doesn't seem to remember much," Stan explained. "Why? What's he got to do with anything?"

"A shame – no, a blessing." Dietrich turned away from the portal and looked at Winter. "I'm sorry. Did you ever mention your names?"

"Winter." She nodded to her twin, who waved immediately. "This is my sister Summer."

"Hmm. And you're from beyond the 'portal'?"

Stan cocked a brow. "What's with the air quotes?"

"Apparently so," Summer said despite the interruption.

"No, you're not." Dietrich clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward the window that looked into the next room. "I know for a fact that you are not from beyond that damned thing. I'm not saying your power and its aren't related – perhaps even the same – but that thing is no door. It is a safety valve that protects the world."

So confused was Stan, he actually took off his glasses to stare at the portal. All he got for his effort was a blurry mess, so he put them back on. "I ain't a plumber, but I'm pretty sure that's not a valve."

"It's a metaphor, Stanford. Although it's comforting to see you were operating this device without a complete understanding of anything having to do with it."

He approached Dietrich with a clenched fist. "Hey, my brother needed me! Needs me. I know enough to make it work. And flash pretty colors. Sometimes."

The old doctor rubbed at his eyes. "Please tell me you haven't turned it on all the way..."

"Nope, not yet. Not until I figure out the settings it was on when Stanley got lost."

"That isn't… never mind." Dietrich's attention went back to the twins. "Forgive us. Two old fossils bantering must not be the most exciting thing you've ever seen."

"You don't want to know what counts as exciting for us," Winter said, shifting her weight to one hip. "By the way, how did you figure out we were magical?"

Dietrich laughed again as he turned his back on them. "Ah, yes. Stanford, do you remember the day we first met? How terrified you and your brother were to hear two people speaking German in the diner? You wanted to have us shot."

He flashed a strange smile. "Ha! Yeah. Thought you were spies. I wanted to be a soldier. That was back before I knew better."

"And then you saw us in the woods digging and wanted to have us shot again."

He couldn't help but laugh at that image. "Digging for magic. You better be glad Uncle Stanton was there." Stan glanced at the twins with a shrug. "Dietrich and Wilhelm felt it. I don't know how."

"Neither do we. I feel your power. I feel something close by beyond this cave, though not as strong. I feel two more returns at a distance-" he paused to point in their directions, "there and there. That red-haired girl has a slight presence… but Bellissima shouts down everything except for you."

Summer blinked at him. "Don't you detect all the other things around here?"

"What other things?"

"Mm. You only sense the unchanged magic. We feel _all_ of it."

Dietrich's face dropped in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The stuff in these, apparently," Stan said while waving the journal. "You said you knew who wrote these? Who w-" He blinked as Dietrich took it from him again. "What?"

An answer wouldn't come for a few minutes; Dietrich concentrated on the book in silence, circling the chamber and rifling through its pages. Abruptly, his eyes lit up. "This is what my son was writing about," the old doctor said with amazement. "He knew."

"Your son? I thought Wilhelm killed your son."

He looked back at Winter with a light frown. "Not him. My..." Melancholy flooded his eyes. "My second son. He ended up in much the same line of work as I did. He was brought in to help document the strange phenomena around this area, but I did not know he kept a personal record."

"You had another kid?!" Stan rushed over and took him by the shoulders. "First, wow! Great! Second, we gotta talk to him too! Did he come with you?"

Dietrich looked through his friend more than at him. "I'm afraid not."

That did nothing to shake his smile. "Let's go get him! These two know someone in the military that can probably bring him here."

"I doubt that very much." He looked up at the portal as Stan backed off anxiously. "Your brother was not the only one this device claimed. It took my son as well."

Stan's brow furrowed. "How do you know?"

"Because I saw it happen." Dietrich expected Stan and Summer's stunned looks, but Winter's visage was too calm for him to ignore. "You don't seem surprised."

"It takes a lot to surprise me." Her eyes went to Stan. "It looks like your question will get answered first."

"I can't believe… I… thirty years of dreaming and the day's actually here..." Overcome, he patted the sweat off his forehead and tried a few deep breaths. "You remember the settings, right? Please tell me you remember..."

Dietrich shrugged a little. "Of course. But if I activated the portal, what would you do? Go in after him?"

"You bet your ass!"

His fervor drew a smile on Dietrich's face. "I expected no less, though your loyalty would cost you your life. You would not survive the exposure."

"We probably would," Summer remarked nonchalantly. She blinked when all eyes landed on her. "What? I mean, the magic is native to our world. We should be fine."

"Unless the volume overwhelms and kills us," Winter pointed out with a sigh. Her sister's odd expression made her mouth twist. "Are you volunteering us?"

"It could be a good way to see what we're really dealing with. At least, I think."

"I suppose." Winter looked back at Dietrich. "Would you be willing to set up the machine?"

He shook his head. "I wouldn't be willing to send you to your deaths, no. At any rate, you may be the only ones who can help Bellissima and she is my biggest concern at the moment."

"Hmm..." Summer walked in tight circles, rubbing her chin. "Sister, it spoke to you through our-" she paused to glance over her shoulder at the men and blinked, "-you know. We could soak up her magic slowly and see how it affects her."

"Yes. If nothing else, we can leave her in object stasis and bring her home. They know more about magic than we do."

"Of whom do you speak?" Dietrich cut in politely.

"Our... parents. The people who run our home country."

Stan cocked his head with surprise. "Wow. King and Queen?"

"No, but yes, they have royal titles." Winter folded her arms and stared off. "And yes, Summer and I are technically princesses."

"We haven't told the kids because, honestly, Mabel is excitable enough," the red-eyed woman said with a giggle.

"Hoo. Good call. If she knew you were literally princesses I think she might pass out or puke rainbows." Stan paused a minute to clean his glasses. "All right, what's the plan? Bring her here, see what you can do?"

Summer nodded once. "With Dietrich's help, yes. We'll be right back."

"Got it." Stan tipped his fez as the women left. "So..." He glanced back at the silent doctor and frowned. All of Dietrich's attention was focused on the device. "What?"

The departure of the elevator made a noise that distracted him for a moment, but he turned to his friend and said, "Before we get too far, there's something I should mention first."

"I bet there is, heh."

Dietrich's eyes glittered with regret. "I wouldn't be so anxious to see my son. He's the one that caused the incident."

* * *

The look on Soos' face when he met Winter and Summer at the door upon their return said it all: something was amiss. "Dudes," he greeted nervously. "I think Mister Pines might be a little upset."

"Why do you say that?" Summer asked, pushing past him and into the gift shop. Wendy was no longer at the counter, otherwise the place _seemed_ to be in order. "What happened?"

Soos pulled open the vending machine and looked down the corridor. "Well, uh, he came up, grabbed a pistol, and went back down. Wendy followed him. Trust me, I've been around long enough to know when he's mad. His neck gets all veiny? Like it looks like… I dunno, cottage cheese."

Winter shook her head. "We'll see what's going on. Make sure the kids are all right, please."

Without the code to operate the elevator, Summer had to compress it – into a ballpoint pen – so they could fly down the shaft, returning it to normal once they reached the bottom. Nobody was in the initial corridor, so Winter hovered quickly toward the portal room while Summer took possession of the golden cube-shaped Bellissima and followed. Thankfully, all of the chamber's occupants were alive. A visibly angry Stan was being cornered by Wendy near the viewing window. A pistol rested on the stone near his feet. Dietrich was apparently ignoring them both, reading one of the journals with his back turned.

"I want your kid, Dietrich!" the old man roared. "He's gonna bring Stanley back one way or another!"

"So brash. You'd really threaten to shoot the one person who can recreate the conditions of his loss? What do you expect to gain with such a plan?"

"Are you two freaking _done_?" Wendy interrupted angrily. Her right hand, fingers half-curled, rested in an odd position against her chest. "Come on, Mister Pines! Mabel and Dipper are up there! Think!"

Summer tilted her head at the scene. "What did we miss?"

"I simply told him that my son caused the incident that took his brother. He reacted about as you'd expect." Dietrich turned to look at the golden cube in Summer's hand, eyes widening with surprise. "Bellissima? I'm a bit confused."

"Aaaaaargh!" Stan tried to slip past the redhead, only to be moved back by an unseen force as she pointed her right hand at him. "Stop it! Stop with the magic! I got rage to vent!"

"Yeah, no. You're gonna stand there until you cool off. I swear, you're as bad as my dad." The thought started a train of images that made her frown strongly. "Oh, good. Let's think about that some more."

"Enough." Winter snapped once to bring Bellissima back to her normal form, then again to whip up a simple blue dress to cover her. Within seconds of becoming human again, the poor woman began to shriek at the top of her lungs.

While Dietrich winced at the noise, his concern was with what he'd just seen. "How?!" he asked Stan, one hand pointed at the three women.

"Literally magic. And I dunno if I want to talk to you anymore."

"You've been saying that for five minutes and it hasn't shut you up yet." Wendy's face went blank for an instant. "Wait… is this what teenagers sound like to other people when we argue? God, no wonder old people hate us."

Summer plucked one of the gumballs from her pocket and unfurled into its original white bug state, dropping it on the floor. It skittered right to the wailing woman and latched onto her ankle. The second it made contact, her screaming stopped and she hung limply in Winter's telekinetic grip. "I guess that still works," Summer noted simply. Her ruby eyes went to Dietrich. "Do you know why?"

Stan and Wendy had averted their eyes, but Dietrich examined the insect without reservations. While it wiggled against his touch, it wouldn't detach from Bellissima. "Hmm. I didn't know Ivan's work would have survived this long. Then again, I didn't know there existed so many possible sources of magic for them to feed on."

Winter blinked. "Someone made these too?"

He rose, straightening his glasses with a sigh. "Certainly. They were based off of a natural creature found here during the Apollyon days. Research on them happened in a different bunker. They comprised half of Project Bellissima. These creatures seek out magic and deliver it to her for storage."

"Whoa whoa whoa _what_?" Wendy exclaimed. "They're putting magic in? I thought they were sucking it out!"

"It's how I designed her. She screams if no magic input is detected – think of it as a rudimentary alarm. In the 80's, telepathy was still quite a hit-or-miss result of portal exposure. With the levels of magic we were dealing with, it might not have worked anyway." Dietrich stared at the bug for a moment longer. "If it's worked for this long, there must be a lot of magic around I cannot sense."

"You designed her." All eyes went to Winter, arms crossed and eyes on her shoes. "And I assume you built her too. For what? To be a storage tank forever?"

"Not at all to both. We know it likes humans. We know it has a certain… reluctance to its nature. Our plan was bottle it up and let it cool off into a weaker state. Then we could deal with it at our leisure. Apparently some pockets of it refused to go along with our idea." Dietrich stared at the twins, who had the most disdainful looks on their faces. "What?"

"That's not how magic works," Winter stated, moving her hands to her hips. "Sister, you do it," she added, nodding from Summer to Bellissima. "See if you hear what I heard."

"Okay." She placed her hand on the woman's back, squirting a dollop of the black gunk from her palm after making contact. With a gentle flick, she removed the bug and put it away in gumball form. Bellissima's silence had everyone confused. "How strange. She's talking up my arm with two voices."

Wendy raised a brow. "That doesn't sound weird at all."

"I'm going to extract some of the magic." Summer turned the sticky splotch into a little blade that jabbed into Bellissima's back. As with Winter, the sensations flew up the conduit into her body, where they were obliterated by the much stronger force of her own magic and faded away.

"She's losing her magic," Dietrich noted, "But I can't see it in you. It's like trying to find a candle against the sun."

Winter had a close eye on Bellissima during her the process. No physical changes were happening, but that was about all she could tell. Since there was no wiggling in her grip, she _assumed_ no pain was happening either. "Keep going, I suppose?"

Summer obliged, tapping a foot idly as she waited. "Anything?" She blinked as her sister shook her head. "Hmm. I don't feel different. What happened to you after you absorbed your charge?"

"I smoldered for a few minutes. What I ingested was a lot stronger than this." Winter kept Bellissima's head up and peered into her eyes. "Still clear."

Dietrich was over there as well, rubbing his chin curiously. "I doubt you'll see much in the way of physical change. We chose her for her genetic makeup. Magic exposure had already left her more durable than the average human."

"Chose her?" Stan asked, having finally gotten past Wendy to approach everyone else. "What, she volunteer to be locked up in a cave for thirty years?"

Dietrich just shrugged. "That was not my decision. She was left here in case new deposits popped up. The insects would deliver the magic until she could hold no more – and then I don't know what would have happened." He snapped his eyes back to Bellissima. "She's-"

It hadn't been Summer's intention, but once her skin had been pierced that magic flew right up the red-eyed woman's arm so fast she could hardly react. "Empty," Summer said for him, withdrawing her blade and hiding her hand in her pocket until the bleeding stopped. "I don't feel any different."

"She's still breathing," Stan pointed out, hunched a bit to look at her face. "Why isn't she, I dunno, doin' anything?"

In fact, she wasn't even screaming despite the severance of the connection, instead emitting a low, pained wheeze. She still looked exactly as when the process had started. The wound on her back, Summer noticed, was still open. "She's not healing anymore."

"Hmm. I'm not surprised. After some time of storing magic she had become incredibly resistant to injury." Dietrich looked back at the portal with a frown. "Oh, well. You tried. I should have guessed there was nothing we could do." He walked out of the chamber – they could see him a second later through the window at the console, rubbing his chin as he gazed at the switches.

Stan was the first to react, moving swiftly out ahead of the twins. "What are you doin'?" he asked suspiciously. He reached out as Dietrich began flicking a switch. "Hey!"

"Relax, Stanford. I'm simply granting your wish." Guided by the memories, his fingers danced across the console in a dizzying sequence of moves, flicking some of the levers twice, others four times. After a minute of this he stepped back and crossed his arms. "There you are. The core setting from October 13, 1984. Would you like to do the honors?"

"I..." Stan trailed off as he stepped forward, staring at the panel. Wordlessly, he pushed one final lever toward the portal. With a penetrating, metallic sound, the object came to life; every blue light in the ceiling and floor switched on, as did all the symbols around the circular opening. "It's spooling up!"

They all dashed back into its room as the sound increased. Stan grabbed the large floor switch with both hands and swung it to his left, issuing a mighty grunt in the process. The black hole filled with white light as the sounds faded away. "Dude," Wendy breathed, shielding her eyes against it. "What the heck did you just do?"

It was what they could not see or hear that held the answer; the silent symphony of magic that flowed through was the background noise the twins hadn't heard since leaving their home planet. Winter and Summer stepped closer to the opening, not needing to squint or shade their faces. "He has joined this world to ours," they said in unison.

"I was hoping you'd make it sound _less_ creepy, man!"

Summer managed a giggle at Wendy's complaint. Even Winter smiled. "Stay here," the blue-eyed woman said calmly. "We're going in."


End file.
